Whatever it takes
by Jacck1234
Summary: They werent close. Far from it to be honest. It s strange how people who barely know eachother can bring out the best in them just to help the other. For Naruto that meant to train with Ino and let her stay with him. For Ino that meant to be there for him and show him what he could be. NaruIno InoNaru
1. Chapter 1

Tears.  
That was all Ino Yamanaka could see, while she ran through the dark streets of Konoha. The fight with her parents had been a really bad one and in her outburst of feelings the blonde girl had taken the most important of her stuff, thrown it into a bag and then she had been off into the night and the pouring rain. She was convinced that nobody would see her now. Not at this unholy hour, but still she was happy that even if someone saw her, the person wouldn´t be able to tell that she was crying.  
Everyone would believe that it was the rain on her face, because she was a kunoichi and those did not show any weakness and sure as hell did not cry.  
Ino had no intention to stop running. All that was in her mind was to get away from her parents. She did not care about being drenched or the pain that started to grow throughout her whole body.  
"Just run Ino. Run as far as you can." she thought to herself, repeating it like a mantra every few seconds. The straps of her bag began to cut into her shoulder, after the rain had gone through the bag and all of its contents and multiplied the weight. Slowly a small voice in her head began to show itself as if her mind was trying to gain the control over her raging emotions.  
"But where are you going to run huh?" the small voice asked, getting louder every time Ino repeated her mantra. At some point the flower girl had to answer it.  
"I don´t know." she replied and just like that stopped her run. The streets were muddy and her legs were sprinkled with dirt. Her skin felt cold and the tears still didn´t stop. God she was a mess, worse even: she was a lonely mess with nowhere to go. Although it would have been easy to find a place to crash for a few nights at Sakura´s home or the ones of her teammates Ino also knew that her parents would search for her there first.  
Her problem was that she didn´t have any other real friends. Sure she knew a lot of people, but never befriended them enough to call any of them friends.  
Shino was way too creepy for Ino with all his bugs and his unsocial behavior, so she kept talking to him at a minimum. It was the same with Neji. They were great Ninjas and Ino loved to work with them, but socially they weren´t what she needed.  
Staying with Kiba was also a dead end, because the boy couldn´t stand her anymore after she had shot down his attempts to date her in a very cruel way.  
She continued to stand in the street, closing her eyes and trying to solve her problem. She needed a place to stay, where no one expected or would search for her. Friends and hotels had to be ruled out.  
The other people she could ask like Hinata, Lee and Tenten sure were kind enough to let her stay the night, but she barely knew Hinata or Tenten so it would´ve been very awkward to ask them. Lee was also ruled out, because of being too strange for Ino´s taste, despite him being one of the nicest guys she knew.

Again her train of thought went to where she had started. The girl didn´t know how long she had been just standing in the middle of the street. The rain still fell without mercy. The sobs and tears had stopped as Ino had begun to analyze her problem. The bag had fallen from her shoulder and lay now in the dirty street. Ino just knelt down next to it. She didn´t care about anything anymore. There was no answer for her problem. At least she couldn´t find it.  
She couldn´t just go to somebody she barely knew, she couldn´t go to her friends, she couldn´t even go into a hotel. And certainly she wouldn´t go back to her parents.  
Even the thought of that brought her nearly to tears. What they had said was just too cruel. No matter why they had said something like that. Her anger and some other emotions did rise to the surface again. Despite desperation because she had nowhere to stay, sitting in the muddy street while rain poured down Ino swore to herself that she would never go live with her parents again.  
"They were wrong." Ino whispered to herself. "I´ll prove them wrong and then they´ll see that they should´ve never underestimated me."  
"You know it´s kinda hard not to underestimate someone who sits in the mud and talks to herself." a voice said behind her.  
Ino grabbed one of the Kunai out of her pouch, jumped facing the threat before anyone normal could´ve noticed. As she saw who had spoken she relaxed. HE was no threat. Not even a small one in her eyes.  
"What do you want Uzumaki?" she asked in an aggressive tone. Why did it have to be him to find her in this situation? Of all people it just HAD to be the one person that she could get along with the least.  
"Nothing Yamanaka. I'm just enjoying the rain." he told her without any hint of mischief in his voice. "It´s really nice isn´t it? It´s cool, relaxing and you never meet anyone when it´s raining. Well almost never, eh?"  
"It's probably because it´s night and nobody wants to get wet. Besides crazy people like you!" Ino told him.  
Something about Naruto got her on the edge every time she saw him. She thought that it was the fact that he never acted serious and made stupid jokes, that hindered him in becoming a great ninja. She hated people who sold themselves for less than they were worth.  
A small smile graced Naruto's lips. He was as drenched as Ino, but wasn´t shivering. Also he had no mud on him at all. A little bit of curiosity was seen in his eyes.  
"So I'm here because I'm crazy. What´s your excuse?"  
His voice was relaxed. As if her comments didn´t even bother him at all. It was unlike him. Normally, when people would insult Naruto he would point at them and make quite the scene. Now he was quiet, relaxed and didn´t even show a sign that he had heard her. Was it because no one else was around? Ino didn´t know and it didn´t matter anyways. She mumbled her answer hoping he would just leave her alone. She didn´t need someone other than her parents bother her tonight.  
"Got into a fight...parents...ran away...no place to stay." the other words were too silent to be heard at all. Naruto's smile grew bigger. Ino turned her head to the side.  
Now it would start. He would laugh at her and would make fun of her, to get her back for all the times she did the same thing when he was in such an embarrassing situation. A small part of her mind even thought that she deserved it.  
"So where´s the problem? You can stay at my place!" Naruto told her with a big grin and a happy voice.  
In her surprise she stared at him. What had he just said? SHE could stay with HIM? No jokes? No remarks? Just an invitation to stay over? Her face must have shown her big surprise because of his next words.  
"What´s wrong Ino? Come on? The rain has stopped, so there´s no reason to stay outside anymore."  
He took a few steps towards her and then grabbed her bag, throwing it over his shoulder. Ino was still unsure but followed him as he led the way to his home

"This is no trick? You´re not leading me on?" she asked, knowing how rude it was. But she had to make sure. Naruto turned around and faced her, staring in her eyes.  
"No trick. Just a friend helping a friend." he told her with this unusual serious voice. His words were another surprise for Ino.  
"You consider me a friend?"She asked him. "But we fight all the time and never get along. At least if we're not on missions."

He just laughed, turned around and started to walk again. Then he told her something she would think about for the next month, though she didn´t know it yet.  
"You´re right we fight. We get on each others' nerves and always embarrass each other, but you´re still my friend." he said. "You never say something hurtful or something that is not true about me. It´s not the usual friendship, but to me it is a friendship none the less."  
After that he was silent and so was she. They just walked to his apartment in silence and dealt with what was on each of their minds.  
Ino tried to understand why Naruto would let her stay. She for her part had never been very nice to him. Always pointing out his flaws and telling him how stupid his pranks were. Nevertheless she had never spread rumors about him like a lot of the other kids had. They just never got along, because Ino had somehow felt that Naruto never tried his best. Like he was holding back.  
When he had fought in the Chuunin exams she had seen that he wasn´t the dead last. Also she had heard that it was him who had beaten Gaara of the sand and had convinced Tsunade-sama to come to the village.  
He had potential to be just as good as Sasuke if not better, of that Ino was sure.  
She just didn´t get Naruto and to be honest in the end she did not care one bit why he was nice to her. She had a place to stay and he even carried her things for her. Why not enjoy such a nice gesture?  
Naruto meant no harm to her.  
When they came to his place he opened the door and showed her to bathroom. He gave her a bright orange towel and said that he would make some ramen for them.  
She didn´t complain. She closed the bathroom door, stripped her wet clothes down and got under the shower to warm herself up.

Other problems could wait, couldn´t they?

/

Naruto, after he had given Ino the towels, had changed into dry clothes. He wasn´t afraid of a cold. After all he never got one thanks to his secret friend. Now he stood in his kitchen boiling water for two ramen cups. He heard the shower running in the bathroom and wondered how it had come to the fact that Ino Yamanaka was using his shower.  
When the rain had started and everyone else had gotten into their homes Naruto had decided to take a walk through the village. Rain had always been his friend, because it was the reason why the streets were empty. That meant no hateful glares, no one accidentally bumping into him and no whispered curses about the demon child. Just him, the street and the platter of raindrops. He enjoyed walking the village in the rain. It was lonely but loneliness was better than the silent boiling hate he always felt from the village.  
Well not the whole village anymore. People like Iruka, Teuchi, Ayame, Anko and most of the higher Shinobi were quite fond of him nowadays. It had something to do with him beating Gaara and finding Tsunade, Naruto suspected. All the other shinobi didn´t really care about him as far as he knew. Not that they had been the problem in first place. It was the villagers who despised or feared him the most. They had never beaten him if you didn´t mind some drunken idiots, but Naruto always felt their hatred. It was worse than any beating, because he couldn´t do anything about it. He couldn´t just fight back and hit them for the glares and whispers. Not even for telling their kids to avoid him. He just had to endure everything they did.  
That was why he praised the rain and the peace it gave him. Loneliness was his friend sometimes, though he was never really alone. The damn fourth had made sure of that.

With a scowl he poured the boiling water in the cups. He nearly burned his hands again. That happened quite often these days. They were always shaking for some reason. Maybe suppressed anger was the reason, maybe the exhaustion from his training. He couldn´t care less about it. What he did care about was why he had found Ino kneeling in the muddy road, legs all dirty, clothes drenched, eyes puffy red. He had noticed it right away.  
Never ever had he seen the girl like that. She always cared about her looks and it was a bad sign if she didn´t. When he heard her mutter to herself how she would show someone they were wrong, Naruto knew that she had had a fight with someone. The person had hurt her bad, even he saw that back then.  
So he did the only thing he could think of: giving her a place to hide, to recover from the pain.  
He wasn´t close to her, but she was Sakura's friend after all. Also she was always fun to argue with. He liked the strong, bossy and loud Ino, because she meant a challenge for his mind. To verbally fight with her was a funny way to kill time and distracted him from other things.  
Sure she had never seen through the facade of his grins and false laughter but why should she? They only talked for a few minutes most of the times. Mostly it ended with her whacking his head telling him to shut up.  
The girl in the street was nothing of the strong friend he knew. She was lost, hurt and had nowhere to go. Only a glimpse of the determination of the normal Ino had been left in her.  
Naruto knew how she felt, because he had felt the same many times. What she needed was the help of a friend. The surprised look on her face had been a bonus for him.  
She had followed him to his house without another word and Naruto was sure that she had been lost in her thoughts.  
Now he had one of the prettiest girls in his house, using his shower. He couldn´t help the small blush on his face. The first girl to ever visit him.  
Well besides Hinata, but the blue haired girl was a special case after all. Furthermore unlike Hinata Ino would stay the night with him or even a few nights. That made her staying here special.  
The sound of the shower stopped just as he set two bowls on the table. He preferred to eat from the bowls instead of the cup. It just made the whole experience of eating ramen nicer.  
When he heard the bathroom door open he lifted his head in its direction. Ino had only opened it a little, so he couldn´t see her but hear her voice.  
"Naruto?" he heard her ask, pretty shyly. "Uhmm could you do me another favour?"  
"Sure Ino, what do you need?" he asked. She was his guest and Naruto would do everything to make her comfortable.  
"Well, you see..." Ino began. "I don´t have any dry clothes. All the things in my bag are wet. I know you don't have any clothes for girls but could you lend me some of yours?" The blush could be heard in her voice. Maybe there was also a bit of shame for being in this situation.  
Naruto's smile grew. If that was her only problem it was easily fixed.  
"Sure wait for a moment." he told her. Than Naruto went into the bedroom, took some of the things out of his dresser and went to the bathroom. Now came the awkward part.

"Ino, I´ve got the things here. I´ll close my eyes so you can get them from me okay?" His face was really hot. If Sakura had been in Ino´s place he was sure, she would´ve beaten him into next week. For his luck Ino was too exhausted from the events of the night to even care.  
"Okay. Close your eyes I will get the things." the blond girl said. "And thanks again for being so kind."  
Closing his eyes he waited. The next thing he felt was the small breeze of hot air coming from within the bathroom and then someone tugging the clothes out of his hands. After that he heard the bathroom door close.  
"I´ll be waiting in the kitchen for you." he said through the door." We can discuss the sleeping arrangement while we eat there if you want. Or we just eat and talk afterwards. It´s up to you."  
Without waiting for an answer he got back into the kitchen and sat down into one of the two chairs. There he waited for her. After a few minutes Ino came into the kitchen.  
When he saw her his breath got stuck in his throat. She was wearing a small pair of his boxers, which showed a lot of her long legs.  
The shirt that was a little big for her went just over her behind drawing his attention to it. Her wet hair dangled over her shoulder, freed from its normal ponytail, giving it a messy but also sexy look. To his luck she was still drying her face and didn´t see his stare before he turned his eyes away. Naruto was convinced that the girl would´ve whacked him if she had seen. He himself would have done the same.  
Ino came over to the kitchen table and sat down on the opposite side from him. She looked into his face. A small smile was seen around her lips. He had to admit, this girl was indeed Sakura-chan's worst rival when it came to being beautiful.  
"Thank you for treating me like this. I don´t know what would have been if you hadn´t shown up at the street." she told him. Naruto took his hand behind his head, rubbing his hair.  
"Don´t mind it Ino. I just did what anyone would´ve done. Come on let´s eat. I am starving and I'm sure you´re too. After that you can get my bed and I´ll take my sleeping bag and the couch." He said. "And don´t worry you can stay here as long as you want."  
"Thank you. You´re really kind to me. I don´t know how to repay you." she told him as she took her chopsticks.  
"Just show your parents, that whatever they said to hurt you isn´t true." Naruto said. "I don´t know what they said and I don´t care, but I want none of my friends being hurt by anyone."  
Her reply was another small smile. The blonde boy liked that smile. There was something in it that he just had to see, though he didn´t know what it was. Anyway as long as he could help Ino he was content. His friends were dear to him; after all they were all he had. Even the ones that weren´t that close to him. He would do what he could for the blond girl.  
But for now he would just eat his ramen.

Other problems could wait, couldn´t they?


	2. Chapter 2

After their small dinner they had said goodnight to each other and while Naruto had taken the couch Ino got the bed. In the dark bedroom Ino laid on her back, staring at the ceiling above her and was unable to sleep. Despite everything that happened and her exhaustion her mind was still processing what happened.  
Naruto, the dead last, the loud Idiot, a person she thought of as just annoying had found her in the middle of the night in the street, given her a place to stay and told her, that he considered her a friend. Plus he had encouraged her to prove her parents wrong.  
They didn´t even really know each other and yet the boy had given her his bed and slept on the couch instead. Worst of all, he had been serious all the time and not the goof she knew.  
And that was whats was bothering at the moment. Sure she had heard from Sakura-forhead that Naruto seemed to have another personality when it came to fighting other ninja, but had never believed the girl. Naruto and serious that just couldn´t fit.  
On top of her own experience Ino had heard how it was Naruto who had beaten Gaara of the sand and there was a rumor about him being the one responsible for Lady Tsunades return, which were both quite impressive feats. It bothered her a lot that she had not seen this side of Naruto.  
She was Yamanaka Ino after all, which meant that her ability to know people's personality at first sight was unmatched ,except for the one of her parents. Was there really more to Naruto than she had seen?  
Well right now it seemed like she couldn´t find the anser to that special question, so Ino decided that it was time to sleep.  
Closing her eyes she turned to her side and took a deep breath. The air in the room, the sheets and even the clothes on her body, all had a a differend smell on them she noticed. The room smelled like ramen, probably because of their dinner. The clothes smelled like they had been freshly washed and had a hint of vanilla on them. The sheets however had the most interesting smell. Here Ino could smell not only the vanilla scent but also that of a training field. The faint smell of grass and trees and something musky. Like Naruto had come home after training and just slept without changing clothes or showering.  
Seeing that it was Naruto she thought about, the blond girl was sure that this was just the reason the sheets smelled like this.  
But she couldn´t really complain. It kind of smelled nice.  
Absolutely different from her room at ho...at her parents house. With a small content sigh the teen snuggled into her comfortable pillow and a few seconds later sleep came over her.

Sadly it lasted only for a few hours. At four in the morning she woke up. The green glowing letters of Narutos alarm clock gave a little light. What had her waking up at such an hour? Normally Ino was someone who loved to sleep in.  
Her anser came with the sound of a moan. It came from the living room and therefore it had to be the blond owner of this place.  
With a little yawn Ino got out of bed and on her bare feet she sneaked through the room into the small hall of the apartment. The she heard her fellow genin mumbling.

What the hell is he doing? she thought. Curious now she peeked her head through the small door and saw him sprawled over the couch in a way only Naruto could sleep. The small Tv was still on and illuminated the room but the sound was muted. Ino could see Narutos eyes moving under his closed lids.  
The boy was dreaming and speaking in his sleep. Given the sounds that came from his direction she was sure that the boy had a nightmare. He was panting heavy and thrashing around.  
Just as Ino decided to wake the poor boy she heard something that shocked her to no end. Naruto was begging in his dreams, pure desperation, fear and hurt in his voice.

"Why? Please tell me? Why did you do it?"

Just a small whimper. In the dim light of the Tv Ino could watch how small droplets of water came out of closed lids. How was that even possible?

"No, please. I didn´t do anything."

Ino was in the room before she could think about what she was doing. She couldn´t watch this anymore and not waking him up would be nothing short of torture. But just as she reached the couch the blond girl heard the words that would change her view of Naruto completely.

"MOM, DAD! Don´t leave me alone with the fox. PLEASE HELP ME!"

Shocked Ino grabbed the boy's shoulder and shook him awake. He jerked into a sitting position, grabbed a kunai that had been hidden somewhere and brought it to Ino throat. Shivering the blue-eyed female watched his face, an expression of a cornered animal. Then he took the kunai from her throat and relaxed.

"Sorry, bad dream." he said to her staring at his hands. "Did I wake you up?" Was it guilt in his voice? Shame? Maybe both? She couldn´t tell.

Still in shock Ino could just nod at wasn´t the kunai or the fact that she didn´t know what to say, but these last words he had screamed in his dreams. So helpless, as if he had always been alone.

"Please don´t tell anybody. The only person who knows about this dreams is Iruka-sensei." the blond boy told her embarrassment clearly visible on his face. "I don´t want anybody else to see me like this...weak. Im a Ninja not a stupid kid."

Her ninja training jumped into function and the shock and fear went away to let her think again. She realized the boy in front of her shivering like a leaf in the wind. He was afraid of her, because she had seen him like this and didn´t know what she would do now.  
Ino was ashamed of herself. She had a little fight with her parents and had run away from home because of it. Even worse she had almost given up an hour after she had been alone, while Naruto had been alone all his life. She had said so much bad things about him, because he never had been as good as others.  
Now she understood why. He never had anyone to help him. Always had so much to learn all by himself. Ino thought about what would have become of her if she would never have gotten any advice from her parents. She clound´t even imagine it. Even Sasuke-kun had it better than Naruto. Not that he had it easy but still he had a family to help him grow. And unlike Sasuke who wallowed in his self pity Naruto was there for others, although in his very annoying way.

"Ino, life is not always easy. We all come to a point where we need the help of others. Promise me that when you meet somebody who needs help, you will be the one to help that person." The words her mother had said to her at some point now came back. It was exactly one of the situations the older Yamanaka had meant.  
As she was thinking about this Ino decided that she would listen to the words of her mother in this case, no matter how much she hated her at the moment. Determined she grabbed Narutos hand and forced him to look at her. The pleading look was still on his face.

" I promise not to tell a soul." she said. His face lit up in a way the could only be named as easement. He wasn´t smilling or grinning at her, in fact he was shivering like a leaf in the wind, but hey it was something. He turned his attention to their hands and rubbed his thumb over her hand.

"Thank you." not more than a whisper but Ino heard it anyway. She hadn´t expected him to thank her for it. Confused she forced him to make a little room on the couch and sat down next to him, still holding his hand in hers. She figured that if he didn´t like the contact he would have let go of it by now.  
This boy was special, so much Ino could tell by now. Had he ever had someone to hold him when he had been afraid as a kid? probably not. She couldn´t imagine to be him. to be honest she didn´t want to, but right now she could at least make up for some of the things she had said to him in the past.  
So she took hold of his arm, which wasn´t that easy because of them still holding hands. After that she leaned her head onto his shoulder and watched the muted TV.

"Is it hard?" she asked him. Normally she would have expected him to ask what she meant but right now the direction of her question was evident. Ino heard a sigh coming from his lips.

"Sometimes. You get used to being alone. It´s not as bad for me, afterall iv´e never know something else." he explained to her and his head gently fell against her own. What a nice feel that was. Just sitting there, enjoying someone who at least for the moment cared about you, despite him having his own shit to deal with.

"Did you mean it when you said I could stay here as long as I wanted?"

"Sure. If you have no problem with me having this dreams from time to time." his anser was quite funny. He was they one providing shelter and asked her if she was okay with it. What a good, but silly guy.

"I don´t. In fact Uzumaki I think it´s better to be here when you have them."

"In that case you can stay as long as you want. I have a meeting with Tsunade-baachan tomorrow. I think im gonna tell her about you staying here, but i´ll ask her not to tell anybody else. That way she can tell your parents that you are safe and you don´t have to worry about being found."

After he had finished this sentence Ino´s head shot up only to collide with his in a painful manner.

"Ah shit. That hurt." she said, but realised it was her fault anyway so she couldn´t blame him. "Are you sure she will do it? I mean she is the Hokage and were just Gennin. My Dad is part of the council and all."

"Don´t worry. She has a sweet spot for people with troubles." Naruto said. "She´s a gambling, drinking old hag with way to big boobs, but she IS a good person nonetheless."

The blond girl stared at her counterpart. Was it really okay for him to speak like that about the Hokage? Well he had spent more time with the women than Ino had, so maybe he was right. Now it was her turn to thank him. Placing her head on his shoulder again she whispered:

"Thank you Uzumaki."

His anser was a yawn and a slight snore. Ino supressed the urge to hit him and instead giggled at this goofball of a boy. Suddenly she decided that if he would really manage to get her a safe place to hide from her parents , then she would make sure that he wasn´t alone anymore. Who knew? Maybe Naruto could turn out to be an impressive Ninja with a little help. He had shown the potential for it before. And he was a good guy at heart, although annoying.  
Plus she could prove her parents wrong. They had said she should stop being a Ninja, because she wasn´t cut to be one in their eyes. They even dared to go that far as to say she would drag her fellow ninja down. Now she sat next to someone who believed in her and said she should prove them wrong.  
Determined she decided that from tomorrow on, Ino Yamanaka would start to train herself. Even more than that she would make sure to help Naruto to improve in every way possible. The boy had been there for her and had called her a friend. If there was one thing you could say about Ino other than being "troublesome" as Shikamaru always said, it was the fact the the cared about her friends and wanted to bring out the best in them.  
She would form Naruto in the strong, smart ninja, that could rival Sasuke anytime. Afterall, behind every strong man, there is an even stronger women. As she sat next to the snoring boy a plan began to for in her head and if it would go as planned both of them would profit in the end.

Getting up in the morning was something Naruto always had a problem with. Not that he overslept, no he always woke up before his alarm started, but leaving the sheets and starting the day was one of the most hated activities of his live. Today it was even harder for him. He didn´t have to open his eyes to notice the first rays of sunshine coming through the window of his livingroom and landing on his face. He knew that he had fallen on the couch yesterday so it wasn´t to strange to be woken by the sun. What was strange, was the fact that something tickled his face. Also he had some kind of weight on him which held him on the couch. Also he could smell green apple shampoo. His shampoo certainly didn´t smell like green apple. Most of his cleaning stuff smelled like vanilla. Hinata had convinced him to try it not to long ago and had got him some of it. Naruto had to admit after using it, that it really smelled good. Not to strong, not too sweet but just right.  
So why did it smell like green apple around him? There was only one way to find out, so slowly he opened his eyes only to be blinded by the bright sunlight. Slowly his eyes started to adjust themself and he could see what that weight on him was and why it smelled like green apple shampoo around him.  
With him on the couch was Ino, her face buried in the crook of his neck, her now shoulder-length blond hair strayed over his face. somehow she hadn´t gone back to the bedroom after his nightmare had woken her last night. But while the bed had room for two people to stay without on top of each other, the couch hadn´t too much space. That was why she lay on top of him. The whole situation slowly began to seep into his mind. He was on the couch. The blond girl on top of him, was his friend Ino, they had slept the night snuggled together.

He. Had. Slept. With. Ino Yamanaka. On. Top. Of. Him...In other words: Naruto Uzumaki was dead meat if she woke up now.

That in mind he did the most idiotic thing he could do right now. He jumped up, as far as it was possible and brought the very much-needed distance between them. His problem was that with her weight on him he just fell from the couch, hit his head on the floor with a loud THUD. A second later he realised that a simple Kawarimi no Jutsu would have been enough to get out of the situation without trouble. Now it was too late.  
The noise and his movement, only lead to the thing he wanted to avoid. Ino was awake. He mentally prepared for his death as she opened her blue eyes and focused on him on. As scared as Naruto was it was interesting to witness the emotions playing on her face. He could see confusion, then a realization and then anger.  
She sat up from her lying position and raised her hand to hit him. Naruto closed his eyes and waited for her fist to collide with his face, but all he felt was a fierce whack on the back of his head. Then he heard her annoyed voice.

"Uzumaki, do you have to be that loud? Really I had such a nice dream and you have to wake me up." she muttered and let her head fall back on the pillow to sleep again. Naruto was confused to say the least. That was all? No screaming or beating the shit out of him? Not that he needed more, his head hurt enough, but he was used to harsher treatment for minor mistakes. Sakura had a very painful way to stop him from doing them again. He had to know.

"Uhm, Ino?" he asked cautious. She groaned.

"What is it Uzumaki? I'm tired so let me sleep or i hit you again." she mumbled. "Waking me in the middle of the night, rude Idiot." She turned around and tried to get in the sleeping back.

"You´re not going to kill me because we spent the night on the couch together?" He couldn´t believe it. Was he dreaming? Or DID she already kill him and he was now in heaven? Well there was no sea of ramen in front of him so it was unlikely to be heaven. Before he could continue to wonder why he wasn´t a bruised pulp on the floor Ino answered his question.

"Why should I? It was ME who fell asleep on you, wasn´t it? So it would have been my fault anyway if something happened." she asked. " If there is something that is your damn fault, it is waking me up without having breakfast ready. Beside that you did nothing wrong."

Well she was right. It had been her, who fell asleep on him. No arguing with that.

"But Sakura would surely have..." he never came to end his sentence. Ino cut him of with another groan and lifted herself up again to look at him.

"I am not Sakura, okay? Nothing happened, you´re a damn comfortable cushion to sleep on and its your fucking home. So please stop complaining because I don´t beat the bloody life out of you." She told him, before she got back to try sleeping. "Oh and while you´re awake, why don´t you make me scrambled eggs for breakfast? That way you could make up for waking me this early and I could sleep a few minutes more."

With that she turned away from him, just to show him that the conversation was over. Naruto couldn´t believe it. How could she be so relaxed about what happened, when Sakura-chan would...well she wasn´t Sakura-chan, she had said so herself. Who was he to complain.  
Before Ino decided to change her mind about it, he got up from the floor and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Ino was right, about the time he realised with a look on the time. 7:00am. Well not really early in his book, but considering that most genin teams didn´t train before 10:00am it could explain why Ino wasn´t used to get up at this time. Following Ino´s wishes he started to prepare the scrambled eggs. His meeting with Tsunade-baachan wasnt before lunch, so he could spend the morning with a little bit training for himself.  
Afterall Sasuke was still in the hospital and knowing his pink haired teammate, she was just at the same place to make sure the bastard had everything he needed. Without him noticing it his hands began to shake again.  
While he was in the kitchen Naruto got lost in his thoughts. Absently made everything ready so his guest could eat as soon as she decided to get up. After he had set everything up, the blond boy went to his dresser, got some clothes and went to the bathroom. Ino stuff was left in one of the corners and he blushed as he noticed her underwear lying on top of the heap of clothes.  
Trying to ignore these thing he got under the shower and after becoming clean he dressed himself in his favorite orange cargo pants, a black shirt and a mesh shirt over it. His headband and jacked he had left in the kitchen. He would get them later, after he had brushed his teeth.  
That day had just started crazy and the demon vessel was sure that this wasn´t the end in the line of crazy things to happen. Living with someone was different from being just by himself, but in a good way. Scary at times, he knew that much, after just the first night, but it was nonetheless nice.  
Naruto wondered if there would be a lot more embarrassing things, like waking up this morning. He could think of a ton of accidents that could happen and embarrass him and Ino to no end. Just the thought of Ero-Sennin finding out about Ino staying here. He had to shudder at that thought. THAT would be something he just had to avoid.

Ino had already started eating when he came back in the kitchen. Her hair was messy, and she ate like she had no manner at all. Wolfing down the food he had prepared. Naruto ignored that, he wasn´t the one who could complain about people lacking manners. His eyes returned to Ino´s hair. It wasn´t the long glory mane anymore. The fight with Sakura in the Chuunin-exams had made sure of that. It had grown a bit since than and went just a little over her shoulders now. Plus it wasn´t in the normal pony tail, that Ino always wore. However it looked really nice, to see her hair down. It was so different from Sakura-chans. Naruto liked it way better in this messy style. Again he was lucky that she had her back turned to him and didn´t see him staring.  
Tearing his eyes from her hair he went to the kitchen table and sat down on the opposite site. The blond girl seemed to be pleased with his cooking. He had been lucky that she wanted scrambled egg for breakfast, because it was one of the few things he was able to cook.  
As she looked up from her meal Ino noticed him. She had obviously been lost in the taste of the food or her own thoughts. There was something in her eyes as she looked at him, but he couldn´t really figure outr what it was.

"Naruto this is great. I didn´t know you could cook this well." she praised him. He smiled at her and gave her a small thanks. His cooking wasn´t something he was proud of. Teuchi and Ayame were so much more skilled than he was.

"You know, we still have a lot of time before we have to meet Tsunade-baachan. I don´t know about you, but how about we set some rules how we´re going to manage this whole living arrangement? You know just to prevent embarrassing situations."  
That caught her by surprise. Naruto saw how she hadn´t expected him to see that far. Then again he was quite convinced no one would have expected him to think of such thing. To tell the truth he was surprised himself that he had thought about it.

"Well how about we finish breakfast first? After that we can still discuss these things. Knowing you, you have to be starving." she said. and just in that moment his stomach confirmed her thoughts with a loud growling.

"You´re right. Let´s eat first." And with that they continued their meal in silence.


	3. Chapter 3

"So? Uhhm...what rules do you have in mind for this…well whatever it is?" Naruto asked her. "You know since I´ve spent all my life living alone I don´t really know how it works. The orphanage had some rules but I forgot most of them. Maybe it´s best if you set a few rules first."  
Ino looked at him and wasn´t sure if he was serious. Then again he was right; she knew a lot more things about living with other people. Not that she liked all the rules her parents had set but some of them were really helpful if you wanted to avoid the household being at each others' throats. Why not go with them?  
"Okay. First of all we should set rules for the bathroom. Then I think we could continue with the rules concerning our food and such things. Maybe change our sleeping arrangement. The couch doesn't seem too comfortable after all, don´t you agree?"

She smiled at him, as he nodded like a small child. What a cute clueless expression. He really seemed to have no social skills at all. Well Ino was just the right person to change that. She asked him to give her a pen and a piece of paper, to note all their future rules down and while Naruto began to search for said items Ino thought about the habits of both parties. It would make things easier if the rules applied to their habits. Like if Naruto was a morning person, it would be easier to let him have the bathroom first, because Ino just loved to sleep a bit longer if she could. Soon Naruto came back, pen and paper in his hand. He gave it to her, sat down and watched her, like she was about to tell him about the most awesome Jutsu he had ever heard of.  
An hour and some hard discussions concerning no more ramen than three times a week, who would do which chores in the house, who would shower first, because apparently none of them was a real morning person, and a few other minor things they had now reached the last and most important part of the list: sleeping arrangements.  
Ino, after last night had decided that she couldn't let Naruto sleep on the couch. Not that he would not survive it, but after that nightmare he had, well she just wanted to be around him the next time something like that happened. However not only would she have to convince Naruto to agree to them sleeping in the same room, but they would also have to buy a futon. As much as she liked the boy as a friend and was thankful for him letting her stay at his house, there was no way she would agree to them sleeping in the same bed. The same room was okay. It was like sharing a tent with Shika when they were on big deal, but sleeping in the same bed somehow had such a special meaning. And there was no boy she would let in "her" bed at this moment.  
As she told Naruto her thoughts, save for the last part, the boy had an understanding expression on his face. Not only that, but he had also learned in the last hour that there was no arguing with Ino if she had set her mind on something. Or at least Ino hoped he had learned that special trait of her character.

"It´s okay Ino. We´ll get a futon. No big deal at all." he said. "I understand that you don´t want anyone other than Sasuke-teme to be that close to you."  
His grin was so wide and bright that Ino forgot what he had said for a moment, while she mused how someone could stretch his facial expressions like that. It took her a few seconds to understand what he had said, because that grin had something strange that distracted her. As she finally got what Naruto had she had to pause for a moment.  
"Why would you think I would Sasuke sleep in my bed? Are you crazy?" she asked the boy, who obviously was confused by her question.  
"Don´t you love him?" he asked. "I mean no offense, but the way you always acted when the teme was around kind of implied that you had feelings for him. You know, fighting with Sakura over who of you will get him. Fawning how great the guy is. Trying to hug him all the time. Doesn´t that mean, that you like him?"  
Suddenly Ino´s laughing filled the kitchen. So that was it. Of course he couldn´t know it. Now his question made sense. Naruto thought that her "I want Sasuke" play had been real. Poor boy, she had to explain it to him, before he hurt his head thinking too hard.  
"That is what you mean. Listen Naruto, I don´t like Sasuke, well maybe I like his looks a little bit but...well I don't have real feelings for him."  
"You don´t?" his confused face was just too funny to look at, that was for sure.  
"No. Here let me explain it to you, so you can understand it. When do you train harder? When you´re alone or when you're training with Sasuke? Tell me." Ino watched him as he thought about her question.  
"Probably when I'm training with Sasuke. I have to keep up with him after all." he told, clearly not seeing the connection. "What does that have to do with you liking him?"  
"Well you see, it´s the same with me and Sakura. If we have a rival we try harder. You know when I first met Sakura she was really shy, but after she had me as a friend and later as a rival she began to grow confident." Ino explained to him. "That's why I pretend to like this brooding emo. It makes Sakura want to keep up to me in every way. I know we aren´t friends like when we were younger but she is still important to me. Plus it pisses Sasuke off whenever we fight over him. It´s really funny."  
Ino's evil grin made Naruto laugh. Well now the boy knew that he wasn´t the only one who wasn´t too fond of Sasuke. Even if the black-haired boy really did look good. Well too bad he had the personality of an Ice block.  
"So you don´t like the teme? Was that ease in his voice? Anyway Ino shook her head to answer his question. "Wow, that's funny. There are only three other girls I met so far, who didn´t like Sasuke. Maybe there is still hope for us other guys." The mischief in his voice was nearly grabbable.  
"Don´t get ahead of yourself whisker boy. Just because I don´t like him, doesn´t mean I like you or the other boys in that way." she told him. A girl like her would never settle for less than the best she could get. Ino huffed.  
"Sorry, it´s just nice to know that there are some pretty girls who don't like the kind of him." Naruto told her. "So, back to the sleeping thing. We share a room, but I will have to sleep on the futon right? No problem with me. Shall we buy it now?"  
"Jeesch Naruto, do you really think I´ll go out like this?" Ino pointed at the too large shirt and his boxer she was wearing right now. "Let me at least dress myself."  
"Well, I don´t see the problem. You will get all the boys' attention if you go out like this. It's not always that they see such a beautiful girl in such clothes is it?" he mocked her. He didn´t notice the faint blush on her cheeks from what he had called her and what's worse is that she balled her fist a second later.

BAD MISTAKE.

A minute later he had two large bruises on his head and a fuming Ino who went to the bathroom. She had told him that they would go shopping later, after she had washed her own clothes and put them in the dryer. Till then he should finish washing the plates from breakfast.  
As Naruto was about to complain, Ino told him to shut up and see it as a punishment for making fun of her.  
Half an hour later as she had said, Ino emerged from the bathroom again and found her blond roommate sleeping on the couch. She woke him up, grabbed one of her sealing scrolls for the things they wanted to buy and told Naruto to get dressed.  
Watching him as he put on his jacket she suddenly noticed something. Without his headband his hair looked much better. Walking over to him she took the headband from his hand and took the zipper of his jacket. A moment later she had opened the jacked.

"What are you doing Ino?" the boy asked not understanding what the girl was up to.  
"I'm giving you a few fashion tips. God knows you need them." she said and fixed his headband around his belt.  
That was something Ino was good at. Fashion and makeovers. Great Ninjas had to look cool and if she wanted Naruto to become one, she could start with his looks afterall. Maybe she would even manage to get him to wear less of this orange horror he called clothes.  
"Here see." she dragged him in front of a mirror. "You look way better with your hair free like that. And with the open jacket you can now hide weapons in it and have easy access to them. Also it suits you way better.  
"Really?" the blond demon vessel asked.  
"Of course. Unlike you I have a sense of fashion." Ino told him with a grin. "Now come on. We don´t have all day Whisker boy."

She grabbed his hand, while Naruto was still watching himself in the mirror. Then she pulled him out of the apartment. It was time for shopping. Luckily Naruto didn´t see the gleam in the blue eyes of Ino Yamanaka or else he would have run to Suna, just to fight Gaara again.  
If there was something that he would remember from this day, it would be the next two hours till they had to meet the hokage.  
He didn´t even know what had hit him.

Dragging her blond counterpart through the streets of Konoha Ino had a happy smile on her face. Shopping with Naruto was something different from normal shopping she thought. Well somehow everything she had experienced with him in these two days had been special in some way so far, but THIS was definitely the best thing. She knew that she tended to be a little carefree whenever she started to go through shops, tried this and that on, did the window shopping and everything that went with her 'hobby'. She also knew that it was hard for people to keep up when she was in such a carefree rush. That was why a lot of people didn´t like to go with her, when Ino got like that.  
The blond girl had seen how he looked when she had dragged him in the third shop to "just look", even though they already had everything they needed to get. He didn´t like shopping one little bit, Ino had realized. Ino had also picked up why. It was because every store owner had this look when they saw him, just like some villagers had. Not exactly what Ino would call nice, but it seemed since she, the heir of the Yamanaka Clan was with him, they didn´t want to say anything. But back to why this kind of shopping was special to Ino.  
It was, because Naruto was a real sweetheart. Whenever she asked him in her sweetest voice if they could go in another shop for "just looking" they boy would smile, nod and let himself be dragged into it. He would even try on the few outfits she picked out for him, though it needed a little bit of convincing from her side.  
Now they had still half an hour to get to the hokage and Ino had satisfied her urge to find new clothes for her and Naruto, which said boy was now carrying for her, because her scroll was already filled with the other stuff. The bags she had left in his hands were filled with three new outfits for each of them and Ino was very proud that she had found them in such a short amount of time. The best part was that they hadn´t been that expensive, since the shop owners seemed to want to get rid of her companion as fast as possible and had sold their stuff at a very low price. Naruto had paid for his clothes and when Ino had found the third outfit for herself, but hadn´t got enough money with her, the boy had paid it for her with a small smile.  
She didn´t know why Naruto was THIS nice to her and when she had asked him he had just said:  
"Because you spend your time with me." She had seen the small glint of pain in his eyes when he said that, but didn´t press further and accepted it.  
Feeling a little exhausted from her one and a half hour rush she linked arms with Naruto and laid her head on his shoulder. Thank god he wasn´t that much taller than her. This trip had been exactly what she had needed to get her mind off her parents. They had everything to start her plan and could begin with their training. All they had left to do was talking to Tsunade-sama and Naruto had promised her that there would be no problem with that. When she saw the little ramen shop down the street Ino decided that she would do something nice for Naruto too. Everybody knew of his love for ramen and she had enough money for two bowls.

"Hey Whiskers? Are you hungry? My treat of course" The question wasn´t needed. The boy could always eat, she had heard that from Sakura. Without waiting for an answer she moved him into the shop and onto one of the chairs.  
"Here, I´ve got enough for two bowls. You can have both." Ino told him with a smile.  
"Really? Don´t you want something to eat too?" Just shaking her head she denied and Naruto ordered two bowls for himself. The old man who ran the shop laughed at him and started to prepare a few bowls. The two teens just sat there and didn´t know what to talk about.  
The silence wasn´t that uncomfortable. Somehow they both never liked to talk when they ate, so it wasn´t that bad. After a few minutes there were five steaming bowls of ramen before them. Four for Naruto and one for Ino. Noticing it she opened her mouth but was cut off by the old man.  
"Don´t worry. The extra bowls are on the house. It´s our special Naruto and friends discount." he laughed at Ino's surprised face. "Dig in, you look hungry too."  
That was weird but who was she to complain? As she started to eat the blond girl watched the owner and his daughter whisper to each other and throw a glance to her and Naruto from time to time. The girl seemed to have noticed that Ino had seen them and came to the counter.  
"So you two what are you up to when you have finished your meal?" Ayame asked them. The brunette girl had a wicked smile and gave Ino a knowing look. Well at least that was how Ino interpreted that look.  
"Oh we're going to visit Granny Tsunade because she wanted to see me. And Ino has to talk to her too, so we go together." Naruto explained between two bites.  
"Hhmm remember Naruto, don´t cause any problems. I heard she is very strong and has a short temper." the ramen girl said with a worried look. "You will make sure he behaves, eh?"  
The question hit Ino without her being prepared and she could just nod. What relation had this girl with Naruto? Not that the blond was jealous. No way not of Naruto. Sure she had known how it must have looked when she and Whiskers had strolled through the shops and she had seen some jealous stares in his direction from a few civilian boys, but they sure didn´t think she and Naruto were together, did they?  
Before Ino could say any more Naruto answered Ayame's question for her.  
"Don´t worry Ayame-neechan. I won't cause trouble. You always assume the worst from me." he said pouting. Ino had to giggle from his face. Naruto pouting. Talk about cute. Ayame seemed to pick up her thoughts.  
"Well at least I can be sure that Miss Yamanaka keeps an eye on you, eh Ino?" The suggestiveness of Ayame's words weren´t picked up by Naruto. Ino however choked on her food which had the ramen girl laugh again.

After their meal Naruto and Ino went straight to the hogake tower and after a few more minutes they stood in the office of Tsunade, who was doing her paperwork as they came through the door. The older blond looked up and smiled at them, happy to see Naruto being on time.  
"Ah good you´re here and Ino too, that spares me time." Tsunade's eyes locked on the young girl. Ino knew the next words before her hokage had even said them. "Ino I had a very interesting talk with your dad this morning. Would you want to discuss that now or would you rather wait? I am sure Naruto here doesn´t bother you."  
"No he doesn´t. He let me stay with him last night so it´s just fair he gets to know why I had a fight with my parents."

A small nod was all she got for an answer, before Tsunade took a small folder from her paperwork, opened it and then focused on Ino again.  
"Very well then. Today your dad came here and asked me to revoke your status as a Ninja, as he doesn´t think that you are fit for it. Also he said you ran away from home. Is that right?"  
Ino ignored Naruto's gasp and stood there as if what had been said didn´t face her.  
"He said the truth. I ran away and spent the night at Naruto's place since he found me crying in the street." she answered ignoring Tsunade's raised brow. "My dad is also right that I don´t fit the expectations for being a Ninja. At least not at this moment."  
She had to be honest here. There was no sense in lying or saying her dad was wrong. She had made the mistake and took being a Ninja not as seriously as she should have. Now she would make up for it. Ino wasn't good at confessing that she was wrong, but if Naruto could be that nice to her despite her harsh words in the past then she could take the bitter pill and stand up for her wrongs.  
"Is that all you have to say?" The hokage seemed curious about hearing Ino´s side as well. Ino took a glance at Naruto who had a shocked face. Gathering what courage she found in her body the blond girl thought what words were the right ones.  
"Baachan you can´t seri...:" Naruto began but was cut off.  
"Shut up Naruto! I asked Yamanaka Ino and not Uzumaki Naruto! So as long as you don´t change your name and gender be silent and wait for your turn to speak!" shouted the hokage. "Now Yamanaka, my time is short. Give me an answer!"  
He closed his mouth. This was serious he noticed, because the hokage hadn´t thrown him out of the window by now. He waited for Ino's answer and begged to kami, that she would say the right things.  
"It´s not all I have to say Hokage-sama. Yes my dad is right. I am no good Ninja, but I want to improve. I´ve made the mistake of taking things too lightly and I want to make up for it. With your permission I would like to undergo special training to be able to help my fellow ninjas."  
Well now she had said it. There was nothing else to do, but to wait for an answer. The big smile on Tsunade's face made her relax a bit.  
"Well you´re one lucky girl. I called Naruto here, to tell him about a special training he is about to go through in the next 4 months. If you want you can join him."  
"Really?" Ino's voice had her happy tone again. Her eyes were sparkling with joy about getting a second chance in being a good ninja.  
"Yes. Now to that training, which now concerns both of you." Tsunade began. She took out another folder and a scroll. "Since your marks in the academy were the worst Naruto and Ino doesn´t seem to fit the expectation of being a Ninja, both of you won´t take any missions till I say otherwise. I can´t have bad ninja in a time like we're now in. You are from now on considered academy students. In the next time both of you will have a refreshment of your basic ninja skills. That means both practical and theoretical. Therefore you will be taken from your teams and trained by special teachers. The remains of your teams will be put together. In other words Choji takes Naruto's place in team 7 since Shikamaru is already a chunin.  
When the two of you have finished this refreshment you will get two other teachers who will teach you higher rank skills that are chosen by me and your teachers. These skills will fit to each of you in a special way, since I do believe both of you are very promising in some special fields and we can´t let such talent go to waste, can we?"  
Ino looked over to Naruto who just stood there and had a shocked look on his face. Ino could see that he didn´t take not being a genin anymore lightly.  
"You can't be serious old hag! You can't take our headbands, we both passed the test! We were accepted in the damn chunin exams! What does the pervert say to this? Or Kakashi-sensei?" His rage was clear in his voice.  
He was about to argue a lot more but Tsunade spent the next five minutes explaining to him in every detail where he lacked skills and showing how he had to undergo special training now that they were at war with Orochimaru. She tried to be nice and to calm him down but he still had a sour look as Tsunade continued.  
"You will keep your headbands, but both of you have to understand that we expect a lot from this training. Don´t waste this chance. Especially you Naruto. You know how highly I think of you and I am convinced that you will get a lot stronger with this training. Don´t forget how important you are to the Ninja force in this village after you won against Gaara of the Sand. We can´t risk you dying because you are too damn proud. What would the villagers say?"  
Understanding the hint Naruto said nothing and just nodded. If he wanted to still be a Ninja he just had to go with it. Even if he didn´t like it. His hard look vanished as he felt Ino taking his hand forcing him to look at her.  
"Hey Naruto cheer up. We will both give our best and then we will show everyone that we can be the great Ninja they expect us to be." she whispered in his ear. Ino would make sure the boy took the chance. "And with these special skills you can´t bet that you will (kick) Sasuke's ass and impress Sakura. So don´t complain. Please."  
The last word came out in her sweetest voice again and she knew he couldn´t resist that and somehow he got cheery again. After the girl had let go of him, Tsunade gave them both a few scrolls.  
"In these scrolls are all the books you need. They also contain some things that are important for you to know but aren´t taught at the academy." Tsunade explained. "The teacher will come to your apartment tomorrow Naruto. I am convinced Ino wants to stay with you since it will make learning together easier. Your teammates will also be informed. Please both of you, give your best and don´t make me regret giving you this chance. Dismissed."  
"We won't." both blondes answered and then turned to leave the office, since this talk was now over. As Naruto went out of the door Tsunade called for Ino again. Obviously she still had to say something. Naruto said he would wait outside for Ino.  
"What else is there to know Tsunade-sama?" she didn´t know what to expect. The older blond however looked her straight in the eyes.  
"You and Naruto are pretty close." she said. "You also seem to have a positive effect on him. That's good but make sure you don´t abuse his friendship Ino."  
"I would never..." How could the Hokage say something like this?  
"I just want you to have in mind that Naruto has it kind of harder than others to find friends. He trusts you and that is good. But I have a question: What is the meaning if the hands of a person start to shake without them being able to control it? As someone who knows the human mind I'm sure you know."  
"Of course. It's a sign of stress and suppressed emotions; well it is for most people. There are a few other reasons but it's mostly that." Ino replied. Why did Tsunade ask her that?  
"What I tell you now is a secret. Don´t tell anybody understood?" Tsunade said and got a nod from Ino. "In Naruto's medical record it is noted that his hands are shaking since the second part of the chunin exams. Not all the time but often enough."  
"You mean...?"  
"Exactly. There is a second reason I want you to undergo this training with him. You shall keep an eye on him. The boy doesn´t talk too much about his feelings and I fear that could have a bad effect. Since you are a Yamanaka you know what you have to look for and as his friend you care for him. He needs a friend that is there for him and there are only a few people to give him that."  
"O-Okay" That was a lot to swallow.  
"Please understand that I won't force you to do this. I probably shouldn´t care as much about that boy, but he is very dear to me. I wouldn´t ask you if I didn´t trust you with this task. After what I´ve seen today I think you´re the only one who is capable of doing what I just asked."

Without waiting to be dismissed Ino left the room. Tsunade-sama trusted her to take on such a task? Wow, just wow. Then again she had already planned to stay with Naruto and be there for him, so this fit perfectly to what she wanted to do to him and Naruto WAS a great friend. He had proven that the last two days.  
What bad came from this? She wanted to be his friend. She wanted to take care of him. She wanted to grow strong with him.  
As she met him outside and they started to go to his place Ino wore her smile and determination open on her face.  
The two blonds would show them all. They would make the best out of this.  
Linking with Naruto's arm once more she promised herself to change for the better. No more slacking. It was time to grow up.

For both of them.


	4. Chapter 4

"AHHH! Damn it, why is this so hard?" the voice of her roommate went through their apartment.  
It wasn´t the first time this had happened today and Ino knew that it sure wasn´t the last time.  
Studying had never been Naruto's strong side and it didn´t take a genius to figure that out. Sure he gave it his all right now, if just to get back to going on missions, but something inside the poor boy refused to help him understand the content of the like before were the result when he grew frustrated with himself and his inability to learn and as a side-effect they annoyed Ino a great deal.

Still, she had to give it to Naruto that he didn´t quit. She remembered how back in the academy he would just quit listening to Iruka-sensei as soon as he couldn´t follow the lecture anymore, but now he actually tried to understand the theoretical part of being a ninja.  
When the Hokage had first told them that they both had to work on their lacking abilities as hard as they could she hadn´t been joking. It was hard to keep up with the drill each of them had to endure.  
While Naruto didn´t have a problem with normal training and learning jutsu he still had to make up for what he had missed out in the academy. Meaning he had to study like there was no tomorrow. Which he surprisingly did.

He had even decided that he would not only study at home but also went to the classes when Iruka-sensei was teaching the academy students. Ino couldn´t imagine how embarrassing that had to be for her friend. Also he would study even though today was one of their few days off.  
He was really taking this chance as seriously as possible. Luckily when Iruka had first come to teach him in private the chuunin had told Naruto a little secret about shadow clones and their abilities.  
Ino had been surprised when Naruto had told her about how everything the clone learned came back to the original as soon as the clone vanished. This little fact had been a great help to the boy's task of catching up on his theoretical skills.  
However it didn´t mean that it made everything a piece of cake for him. Studying was still hard for Naruto and that meant he would complain all the time about how he didn´t get the stuff, which got on Ino's nerves. More so since she had just lain down on the couch to relax a bit while watching TV.  
Couldn´t he just shut up and take a break this one time? Just for the sake of her sanity. It wasn´t often that she had had the chance to relax in this last month, since Asuma was training her in taijutsu and ninjutsu every day now that his team was disbanded. While this was paying off and her skills had improved just as much as Naruto's had, she still needed a break from time to time. So why did the boy have to study when she just wanted to do nothing but enjoy a lazy day?  
Getting stronger was important, Ino had realised that after one month of training but there was more to life than just being a ninja. Sometimes you had to enjoy life.  
Sighing she decided that it was time for her to help her whisker-boy or force him to take a break or else she would never come to enjoy her free day. She got up from the couch and went into the kitchen where Naruto was reading a big textbook.  
He sat there in his orange pants and black shirt resting his head in his hands. The boy was that concentrated he didn´t notice Ino approaching him from behind, till she sneaked her arms around his shoulders and rested her chin on them with a smirk.  
The blue eyed girl felt her friend tense and knew that the reason was that he wasn´t used to having people get close to him in such a way, though Ino had been very affectionate to him after they had become good friends. It was just her way of getting attention from others and the fact that Naruto reacted way harder to her little hugs than other people was just a little bonus.  
After all Ino loved, no, needed, a lot of attention. She herself didn´t know why but she just needed it. Also she wasn´t the shy type so for her it was no problem to be close to others.

"You know Whiskers, if you don´t understand the book you could ask for help instead of yelling every five minutes." she whispered in his ear and caused a shiver to run through his body. She felt that all of his concentration on the book had disappeared.  
A smile crept on her face at his reaction. Naruto was just so easy to tease it was funny. It was just like she was the first person ever to get close to him. Whenever Ino had tried to get attention from others, like Sasuke for example, they had never shifted their attention to her as much as Naruto did. It was satisfying to know her little tricks worked.

"Sorry. I just have to understand this. The sooner the better so I can go on missions again."  
he told her and tried to not move more than absolutely necessary.  
"I know, I know." Ino replied "But you have to take a break sometimes. If not for you than for my nerves."

She hadn´t changed her position because she knew how it gave her at least a little bit of control about the boy in front of her. Also she liked to torture him a little bit. Naruto was clearly uncomfortable with her being so close.

"Only this chapter. Iruka-sensei said that this is one of the last books I have to read before I can take the theoretical academy test again."  
There was a pleading tone in his voice. Another sigh escaped the blond girl as she let go of Naruto, took a chair and sat down next to him. It would be too much trouble to force him to take a break now. So if he wanted to learn so bad, why not help him?  
"Okay, I´ll help you or I'll never get my peace." she told him with a smile. "So where´s the problem?"

With that said Naruto began to explain to her how he wasn´t getting some of the more complicated words that were important. They sat on the chapter for more than an hour before Naruto finally got all of it, but Ino couldn´t really say that she didn´t enjoy helping him. It was nice to be able to help someone and Naruto was giving her his best. Not once did he complain or lose concentration. Sometimes he would compliment her on how she could understand everything so fast. It was really flattering to have someone who praised you in that way.  
As soon as the book had been closed the Yamanaka made her way to the living room again and took Naruto with her. She really needed to relax now that she had the chance.  
They both settled down on the couch but just as Ino had found something she wanted to watch, there was a knock on Naruto's door.  
That did it. She was never getting her peace now and her own frustration escaped her in a stream of loud curses. Whoever this was, the person was about to experience a very painful death as soon as Ino got up. Sadly her own training with Asuma yesterday had taken its toll and it was just too hard to leave her comfortable position on the couch. Still cursing under her breath, she decided to just kill the person as soon as whoever it was came into her reach on the couch.  
Meanwhile Naruto had gotten to the door and opened it to find the two persons he had expected the least. There stood his old teammates, the ones who he hadn´t spoken to since Ino's and his training had started a month ago. Neither of them had ever visited him before and he would've never thought that they would ever come knocking on his door. After all outside of missions team 7 had never been very close.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked them very confused.  
"We're here to visit you. It´s really obvious dobe." Sasuke said, his tone annoyed as always.  
"Yeah and we wanted to know why you weren´t on the team anymore and why Chouji took your place. Kakashi doesn´t want to tell us." Sakura added.  
"It´s been a month since Chouji took my place and now you decided to ask?"  
Naruto's question had exactly the same small hint of anger his face showed. They had to really care * if it took them a month to visit him for answers.

"We didn´t really have time for visits. First I wasn´t allowed to leave the hospital and then when I got out Kakashi tells us you had to leave the team and that we had to go on a long term mission. It turns out that finding a stupid thief in the mountains can take a lot of time if he is a Ninja." Sasuke explained in a flat voice.  
"Can we please come in Naruto?" Sakura asked. "We will explain everything to you and then you can tell us what made you leave the team if you want."

When Sakura had finished Naruto just nodded and let them in. The way Sasuke had reminded him how he could not go on missions had stung. It wasn´t their fault so why make a fuss about it now? They had come after all.  
He led his teammates into his living room where Ino lay on the couch. As soon as Ino and Sakura saw each other Naruto could feel the tension in the air. Sasuke seemed just a little bit surprised to see Ino in Naruto's home, the blond boy noticed. Or maybe he just didn´t care.  
Before Naruto could say anything both girls asked or better screamed the question that stood open in the room:

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN NARUTO'S HOME?"

Oh boy, there would be a lot of explaining to do...  
Ino's last hope of a relaxing afternoon had long vanished and had been replaced with the long boring task of explaining their situation to Naruto's former teammates.  
She had seen the smirk on Sasuke's face when he heard about how Naruto had to go to learn academy skills again and it had been a lot of fun to see it vanish from his face as she told them, how she and Naruto would get special teachers as soon as Tsunade-sama deemed them to be at a certain level.  
After that it had mostly been Sakura asking questions while the Uchiha resorted to brooding like he always did and ignored his surroundings mostly.  
Sadly Sakura was really interested as to why Ino had decided to stay at Naruto's and never forgot to mention how it looked like Ino had a thing for the blond boy.  
Also she mentioned how Ino had stopped approaching Sasuke-kun like she did all the other times, which in Sakura's eyes meant that Ino had finally realised how much better the pink haired girl fit to the Uchiha.  
Surprisingly Ino didn´t start a fight. She decided that there was no need to challenge Sakura in any way to explain to her how she never had noticed the Uchiha for more than his looks.  
The longer Sakura rambled on, the more Ino noticed what a stupid girl Sakura had become. The pink haired girl talked as if she was superior to Ino, because she was still doing missions, while she forgot that Ino's and her match in the chuunin-exams had been a draw. It was quite clear that unlike Ino, Sakura hadn´t improved her skill much since then.  
Ino saw that it confused Sakura that she didn´t talk back to any of the things that normally started one of their little fights.  
However the next thing Sakura said triggered a reaction from Ino that had been totally unexpected.  
While she had been rambling her speech had lead her to how well the new team worked together and that Chouji was a really good replacement for Naruto.  
And while Sakura told Ino about how much better the new team worked without Naruto and Sasuke always fighting, she missed how Naruto's hands began to shake again. Ino for her part did not and understood what was going on. Naruto's crush indirectly told her how bad the boy was, while he sat next to said crush.  
Before Ino could say anything Sakura said the words she would've better kept to herself:

"Well maybe it's really for the best that Naruto and you go through this training. He really needs it, since he never was that great in missions."  
Naruto, Ino and even Sasuke flinched at her words. Sasuke was about to tell Sakura something but the blond girl in the room never left him a chance to do so. Instead she began to scold her former friend in a loud and enraged voice:

"Yeah and you´re so much better Forehead-Girl! At least Naruto can fight other Ninjas without someone else holding his hand or having to watch out for him every time!"  
Sakura's surprise wouldn´t have been greater if someone had told her that she should wear green spandex. She gaped at Ino, who was fuming at her and about to continue her rant.

"You´re not a notch stronger than me and that's not that much. I'm pretty sure without Sasuke or Naruto keeping your back safe you would've died on your first C-Rank mission or when Suna since you are not that strong please use the brain behind your large forehead and think about who is listening to the shit that comes out of your mouth! Naruto is a way better Ninja than you are, just because he tries his best to improve whenever he can!"

Before things could get out of hand Sasuke stepped in and told Sakura that it would be better if both of them left now. So he grabbed the pink haired girl's arm and dragged her away, after he said goodbye to Naruto.

"Oh and dobe..." He said as he was about to get out of the door. "I want to fight you as soon as your training is finished."

With that he closed the door and left Ino and Naruto alone. The boy just sat in his place, hand still shaking and didn´t say anything. To hear how lowly Sakura thought of him had hurt like hell and at the same time made him angry.  
Ino could read that on his face, all the emotions that were forced to the surface. It hurt her to see her friend like this and out of instinct she embraced him in a tight hug and comforted him as well as she could. Telling him how Sakura was just stupid and how he shouldn´t let it get to him.  
She really did her best to repair the damage the words of his former teammate had caused.  
When Naruto suddenly returned her hug and buried his head in the crook of her neck, she couldn't have been more shocked. Or so she thought till she felt his wet tears drench her clothes.  
It seemed that this had just been the last straw and now Naruto had to let out all he had inside him. When the first shock had worn off, Ino began to stroke the boy's back in a soothing matter whispering words of comfort in his ear.  
It wasn´t a happy moment, but it made her happy that Naruto trusted her enough)to open up that much.  
The afternoon turned evening and Naruto was still pouring his heart out to her, while she had gotten them some chocolate ice cream. They just sat there and he talked, Ino listening to him.  
Tomorrow both of them would have to train again, but right now Ino thought that didn´t matter.  
What mattered was the new deeper bond the two blonds were forming.  
At some point Naruto asked Ino to tell him something about her past, to get to know her better.  
They talked till deep in the night, neither of them caring how their day of had turned out.  
All that mattered to them was listening to each other.


	5. Chapter 5

This moment was one of the few times in her life that made Ino utterly speechless. After finally reaching the level the Hokage considered "being fit for a ninja", which Ino considered above what most chuunin knew, Naruto and her had been told to go to the training grounds to meet their new teachers. Lady Tsunade had said these teachers would be there to improve the skills Naruto and her had a talent for. In other words Ino would learn more about gathering information, medical Jutsu and interrogation, while Naruto apparently would learn something about natural chakra and sealing.  
What caused her loss of words, now that she stood in front of the ones that would be teaching them from now (on) was * how utterly unfairly she was being treated.  
Naruto would be taught by no other than Asuma-sensei AND the legendary Sannin Jiraiya. Asuma said something about Naruto's affinity for wind chakra and the Sannin, who was a pervert by the way, was acting around Naruto like some kind of uncle or grandfather. Not that Ino cared about that. Naruto needed and deserved the best teachers he could get if you asked her and at least Asuma was a very good teacher for sure.  
The unfair thing about it was who would be teaching HER. Next to Naruto's new Senseis stood two women. One of them was Tsunade-sama´s assistant Shizune. Ino knew that Shizune would be a good teacher but compared to a Sannin...well it was a disappointment.  
The other woman had purple hair, was utterly crazy and dressed in a trench coat. Also she had been the jounin leading the second part of the chuunin exam. THIS was what had robbed her of her ability to speak.  
Ino had expected to get someone like Ibiki to train her about gathering intel and got someone she deemed worthy of being in a mental hospital.  
Being half aware of the fact that Naruto and his teachers had left to train somewhere else she noticed that her teachers had sat down on the ground and the crazy snake lady, Naruto's words not her's, was motioning Ino to sit down next to her.  
Deciding that there was no use in making a scene Ino chose to learn as much as possible from her teachers. Maybe if she proved herself good enough she could get Tsunade and Ibiki to train her at some point. So she sat down and faced the older women. Shizune smiled friendly and the purple haired female gave her a shining grin, not unlike Naruto's.  
"Now Missy are you excited about your new teachers? My name is Anko. Bet you´re happy to have me and Shizune over there teach you." Anko said to her in a happy voice. She seemed to be really excited to have someone learning from her.  
"I uhhm..." Ino tried to answer but was cut short by Shizune.  
"Don´t worry. We know you are disappointed. Anko is just playing with you."  
"I'm sorry." the blond girl said. Way to go. She had just managed to insult her teachers.  
"Don´t be. We understand you Ino. Neither of us is a Sannin, while Naruto gets Jiraiya to teach him sealing. You will see that we´re still pretty good teachers though. I have been taught by Tsunade-sama and Anko is one of the most feared interrogators in Konoha." Shizune explained.  
"She is right, brat. It takes a lot more than a little disappointment to insult us." Anko said and gave her some hard pats on the back. "Now that it´s just us girls why don´t you tell us a little bit about you and after that we tell you about us."  
"Uh Ok. I am Ino Yamanaka, I like flowers, my friends and gossip." Ino began "I dislike people who don´t stay (true?) to their friends and the ones who don´t try to use their talents. I want to become a great Ninja so I can protect my friends and make my parents proud of me."  
Her teachers listened to her and Anko smiled when she told her about how Ino liked to gossip. It would be helpful to start their little lesson. She threw a glance to Shizune who seemed to understand right away.  
"You like to gossip? Really Ino isn´t that a bad habit?" the black haired woman asked. Ino thought about her answer for a moment before she gave it.  
"It depends. If you tell everybody secrets and start rumors or believe in everything that people tell you it's a bad thing. It´s not nice and nobody will trust you after a while. At the same time it´s a great way to get information, though you have to know what is the truth and what isn´t. There are a lot of stories that can´t be true. Still I think that gossip isn´t bad."  
Shizune gave her a nod and the bright grin on Anko's face told Ino that her answer had been the right one.  
"Very good missy. Hokage-sama was right you have the spirit." Anko said to her. "Also you already know that you can´t trust all information you get. That is the hardest part for most of us interrogators. So besides gossip, which mostly can only show you in which direction you have to search for information by the way, how many other ways of getting important information do you know?"  
"Uuhm with Jutsu like that of my family? Or through torture maybe?" the blond girl replied.  
Anko shook her head in amusement. Her eyes met Ino's and they had a serious expression.  
"You´re right. These are ways to get information. Both of them are very extreme though. There is a method that is a lot easier and stealthy." she said.  
"What is it? I´ve never heard of it." That made both Anko and Shizune laugh out. Ino gave them a confused look and pouted. "What? It´s true."  
"OH sure you have. YOU are doing it nearly all the time!" Shizune smiled.  
"She is right missy, though you aren´t really aware of it." Anko said with a snicker and began to explain. "What I was talking about is the easiest of all ways to get information. Talking with somebody!"  
"But...:"  
"Let me finish explaining Ok? Then you´ll get all your open questions answered afterwards. First of all, talking or language has one simple purpose: to give someone else information. Be it about your lunch, your mood, a secret jutsu or anything else. You talk all the time. Not (just) with your mouth, but also with your body. You are interpreting information others give you by watching them. Their body language, their facial expression or the tone of their voice give you information about how to react around them. Most people don´t realise how much they tell others all the time.  
Now that is where it gets interesting. While it's easy to lie with words it´s harder to lie with your body or your voice, because you aren´t aware or have no control over a few reactions. If you´re good as an interrogator you don't need to use torture, at least not physical torture.  
It's enough to simply talk to your enemy and see how they react. A few questions here, a little threat there and then when you get a reaction that's suspicious you dig a little till you find something that's useful. It´s really effective because nobody expects an interrogator to just have a nice talk with you. Also a lot of people are nervous and let things slip without realising it." Anko explained.  
"What about when I don´t have the subject as a hostage or prisoner?" Ino asked as soon as she caught on to what she was told.  
"That depends. If the subject knows you're the enemy then talking won't help till you have your target secure in a place for interrogation. If the subject doesn´t know what you´re after then a simple talk can change everything. A few innocent questions, a little smile and all you have to do is to separate the useful things from the junk. If you use this technique and have a lot of training you can read people like a book. It takes a lot of training but in the end there is a lot to gain from it. The best bit is you can train that skill all the time with the people around you. Most won't notice and if they do all they will suspect is that you're noisy."

"So you will teach me how to read people and how to torture them if they don't want to be read." Ino asked the purple haired female.  
"Exactly. That and a few other secrets every kunoichi should know. Shizune over there will help you to understand the human body and mind better. After all she is a very good doctor. I'm sure her medical jutsu can be used to gather intel and also will be helpful if your friends are wounded.  
Maybe you´ll even learn a few things to improve your family jutsu if you learn how to understand the human brain and body more. So what do you think, do you want us to train you missy?"  
Anko grinned at Ino and held out her hand. The blond girl took it without thought, nodded and gave the two women a smile.  
"Of course I will Sensei. Please teach me everything you can so I can be a better Ninja. For Konoha and my friends."  
"That´s what we will do missy. Now why don´t we show you what I was talking about. The three of us will have a little talk and you try to figure out as much about us as you can, while we do the same. After that I´ll give you advice on what you have to improve and some tips to read people without any jutsu." Anko said.  
"Oh and of course we will have a little spar afterwards." Shizune added. "We have planned to see where you stand exactly. After today we will take turns in teaching you. One day you´ll learn with me about medical jutsu, useful plants, poisons and those things and the other Anko-san will teach you her special field. Since I have to admit that I'm the one who is less experienced in the field work of a ninja from a hidden village, you will learn that mostly from her. We expect only the best from you Ino. If we get that I promise to have Hokage-sama teach you at least a little."  
"Thank you Sensei, I understand. I will do my best and won't disappoint you." Ino said.  
"Okay now that we have that out of the way why don´t you tell us about your relationship with the brat. Is he your boyfriend?" Anko asked with a devious grin.  
"W...WH...WHAT?...N..No!" Ino sputtered. "Are you crazy? Me and Uzumaki? We're just friends, nothing more."  
"But Ino, I know from Hogake-sama that you live in his place and the two of you were sitting pretty close when we arrived here with the others today." Shizune pressed. She knew why Anko had chosen that topic.  
"I...Um I mean that's right but really there is nothing. We weren´t even real friends before he found me." Ino told her senseis. "We have grown pretty close since he took me in, you know."  
"Why did he offer you to live with him, if you weren't friends back then huh?" Anko asked.  
"I think Naruto has a different view on things like friendship. He was really nice, but didn´t want a thing from me in return."  
"So he is just a friend and you have grown close to him while living with him, right? And you have no intentions to change your relationship?" Came the question from Shizune.  
The reaction Ino gave now was surprising. She said nothing, as if she wasn´t sure what to say. Anko saw how she grew a little more tense and started to rub her wrist with the other hand.  
"We're good friends sensei. He told me a lot of things and is real nice, but I don´t think there is more."  
"So you´re not sure?" Anko asked, a little too curious.  
She wanted to know more about this. At first she had chosen the topic just to rile her pupil up. To make Ino nervous or angry so she wouldn´t notice the more subtle questions, but now Anko's inner gossip girl, even if she did hide that side from everyone, wanted to be fed.  
"Naruto is a good guy I suppose. Just not...you know boyfriend material." Ino said and started to rub her wrist a little more. "I don´t think I have to give it more thought to be honest. We're friends, he likes Sakura and even if he didn´t there are a lot of girls that would be a better match for him."  
"Like?" Shizune asked.  
"None of your business Sensei!" Ino yelled suddenly angry. "Ask something else! I'm not here to talk about Naruto."  
"Well then, what do you think about the fact that the laziest guy in this village was made chuunin not too long ago, while the Uchiha?" Anko asked.  
There was something about the Naruto topic, but first this wasn´t an interrogation and second it made Ino uncomfortable because the girl didn´t have the answers herself. This was a hint on Ino's personality and that she knew how to alter or hide it. She could talk with Shizune about that later.  
Ino's pose changed drastically. Her shoulders became straight, her eyes met Anko's and her voice was strong as she spoke.  
"Sasuke-k...Sasuke is a good ninja, but he isn´t the best just because he is an Uchiha. Shikamaru had a good match. He has shown how he can beat an enemy that was clearly stronger than him.  
I think he gave up because he knew something would happen, you know to save some chakra for later. I'm not sure about it and the lazy bum didn´t tell me shit when I asked but he is really smart.  
He deserves to be chuunin. At least he wasn´t late for his match."  
Ino defended her friend. The lazy idiot wouldn´t care about it, but no one talked bad about her close peoples' achievements.  
"Well well, good you see that the Uchiha's looks and name aren´t everything. Though it is surprising to hear you talking about "Sasuke-kun" in that way. Aren´t you one of his biggest fangirls?" was another slight question to learn more from Anko.  
Ino gave a sigh and began to explain. A little time later she started to ask questions herself. She tried to learn everything she could from her teachers but their answers, unlike her own, just held nothing more than just the obvious meaning of the words. Also Ino found it hard to read their body language. When Anko and Shizune explained to her what they had read from her she was shocked. They told her about what she had felt, some of her exact thoughts she had when she had given the answers and what they had concluded about her from the context.  
While they had gotten a pile of info about her she had nothing really important.  
Anko-sensei gave her a lot of tips, which were really helpful and Ino promised herself she would improve.  
After the questioning came the spar. Ino against both of her teachers. No reason to say she had no real chance. She gave it her all anyway and even managed to hit Anko with one of Shizune's poisoned Senbon. In the end she lost, as expected but her teachers were proud of her skill nonetheless. Shizune told her when and where she had to meet her the next day at the hospital and left. Anko on the other hand stayed with her, one hand resting on Ino's shoulder.  
"You know missy, for the first brat I have to teach you´re all I could have asked for." she told the blond girl, as she stood behind her.  
"Thank you sensei." Ino replied.  
"Still I think you shouldn´t act so much. Don´t be surprised. I know a mask if I see it. You´re unsure as hell about yourself. You´re afraid what you are isn´t enough. I know your behavior, because I acted like you when...well when I learned under one of my teachers and when I came back to Konoha."  
"You do?"  
"Yes. Now please do us all and yourself a favour. Be yourself, no matter what others think. Your lazy friend, the chubby one and even the blond annoying brat are all different from what is expected but they are what they are." Anko told her. "Save the mind games for your enemies Ino, not your friends. It´s bad for you if you don´t trust anybody to like you how you are."  
"But..." Ino started. This woman had figured her out. Ino was shocked and felt good about it at the same time. Her Sensei was someone who seemed to understand in a way nobody could. Not Asuma, Shikamaru, her Dad or Naruto.  
"No buts! Be yourself Missy! Do not care about what others think. Do what you want and what you think is the right thing. Not what others tell you is. The ones who like you anyway won't mind. Trust me." Anko-sensei's lecture came to an end.

Ino looked at the strange women before her. She was nothing like people expect a teacher to be but still she had proven she was a good one. Ino wanted to be like her, to be able to be how she wanted to be and still able to prove her worth.  
"You´re right Sensei. Thanks for your advice."  
"Anytime girly. Now come, I´ll show you the wonderful gift that is called Dango. My treat, just this once."  
And with that Ino followed her Sensei to a Dango shop, where the two of them sat, ate mostly Anko and talked about ways to get information. This time just the theory without any practical example. The blond girl enjoyed it immensely, because Anko-sensei was more of a big sister than a teacher. Ino had always wanted a sister. She and her mom, while they were close, had way too different interests in life. They could agree on flowers and a few other things but her mom never wanted to see things Ino's way. Anko-sensei did. She didn´t agree to everything, but if that was the case she tried to show Ino why she thought differently.  
The thing about it was, that she took Ino seriously. Really seriously. There was no talking from Anko that implied she was above Ino. She didn´t show anyone that she was better than Ino, by talking down to her, but took her seriously and if the blond girl needed to be put in her place Anko just did it and proved her wrong.  
After the two of them parted ways Ino had had a wonderful evening and high hopes that Shizune would be just as much of a role model that Anko-sensei had proven to be.  
Deciding it was time to go home she started to head for Naruto's place. When she turned into the street his apartment was on she saw that he was already home as she noticed the lights were turned on.  
As she opened the door she found that it was very quiet inside. First she thought that Naruto had just fallen asleep and forgot to turn out the lights, but then she found him in the kitchen. He was reading a book. That itself wasn´t an uncommon sight for Ino, since the boy had done this quite a lot the last few weeks. The interesting thing about it was that he seemed really interested, like when he was learning a new jutsu. He didn´t even notice that she was in the room, watching him.  
The expression on his face made her believe that he was reading the recipe for the best ramen ever made.  
Strangely it made Ino smile to see him with something that could make him focus that much on something he normally didn´t like. He had a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, which she found immensely adorable.  
"Hey Whiskers. How was your training?" she asked him.  
His head jerked up to look at her. So he really hadn´t noticed her till now.  
"Oh hey Ino. How long were you standing there?"  
"Oh not that long. In fact I just came in." she said. "Now care to answer my question?"  
"It was great. Asuma showed me something about wind chakra and Kunai. I didn´t quite get it at first but I'm getting better. Oh and the old pervert said he would train me in Fuinjutsu. Something about how the Uzumaki-Clan had a thing for that and how I should learn more about it. He gave me these books and a jutsu -diary of a girl of my clan. Surprisingly I found it very easy to understand the things in the books, even though Asuma had told me that Fuinjutsu was very hard to learn."  
He beamed at her. She could see how happy and proud he was to accomplish something others said was hard to learn.  
"Wow, that sounds great. And how about the diary? Did you read that too?" she asked him.  
"Well at first I didn´t want to but Ero-sennin said it would be ok since the girl would probably approve if she knew who was reading the book. Apparently I and the girl had a lot in common. The Diary goes on about the girl's work with fuinjutsu from the age of fifteen to twenty and it has a lot of useful advice till now. I think she wrote it in case she had kids so that they could learn easier or something, because the first pages were addressed to her son."  
"So Jiraiya-sama gave it to you to help you?"  
"Yes. This girl, Kushina was her name, really had a few cool tricks. I definitely have to learn them. The only strange thing was that Ero-Sennin said I should tell him if I figured out why he gave the book to me. I mean isn´t it obvious`? He wanted me to learn fuinjutsu."  
Ino smiled at him. She knew there had to be more behind this, but for now she didn´t want to ruin Naruto's mood. Jiraiya had another reason for giving Naruto that book and telling him about his Clan, but she was sure he would tell Naruto as soon as the right time came. She may not understand it all but the Sannin must have had his reasons. Who was she to ask for those?  
"So Ino how was your day? Are you happy with your teachers?" Naruto asked as he put a piece of paper between the pages of the diary and waited for her to tell about her day.  
"Well you see, at first I..." Ino began.  
It would take a long time till the both of them got into their beds tonight, as both wanted to tell the other how their day went. In the end they were happy they had someone to speak with and to listen to.  
Each of them fell asleep with a smile on their face.


	6. Chapter 6

Ino collapsed on her knees. Her breathing was heavy and all of her body ached. She tried to get up and search cover behind a tree but it was already too late. Three kunai hit the ground right next to the exhausted girl. Her enemy had caught up to her and now she had to fight. A figure appeared out of the tree a directed a kick right at Inos face only to stop inches before it.

"And again you´re dead. I expect more from you missy!" Anko-sensei scolded. Her face was grim and her eyes showed no mercy. "Really girl you can do way better and I only expect to get your best. Now get up and start running your laps!"

Ino did as Anko said but after a few seconds of running she fell to her knees again and didn´t move any further. A moment later Anko was beside her, yelling how the blond girl should get up again. At first Ino tried but then she gave in to the pain of her body.

"I can´t." was all Ino said. She was at her limit or at least that´s what she thought. It was hard enough to breath, running was out of question right now. Sadly her Sensei thought differently about that.

"You can and you will missy. There is no place for slacking of when you are on a mission. That means as long as you train with me there wont be any slacking either!"

The blond girl mumble something, hoping that Anko-sensei wouldn´t catch on what she said but since her sensei was a skilled Ninja she did hear it. Ino knew it because of the look she received from Anko. It hurt her more then all the cuts and bruises over her body because it was disappointment. Her Sensei was disappointed with her even thought Ino had given her best.

"So you say that's your limit? You want _"just a little break"_, yes?" the purple haired woman asked her pupil. "Very well. Then you´ll get a task that isn´t as hard as what we've done before even though I know you could go on."

She took a scroll from her coat and tossed it before Ino. The girl picket the scroll up ask cast a questioning look to her Sensei and then to the scroll. Anko told her to open the scroll and so Ino did as she was told. Inside a mission description about an observation mission. It wasn´t official Ino could tell because Asuma had once given a similar scroll to her old team. Those were given to young ninjas as a way to get them used to reading offical mission scroll without any fault. They all contained a few D-Rank missions, because those were perfect to train a young team before they got into the real world of being a ninja. Also it saved the Sensei a lot of time. He or she just had to give the genins the scroll and didn´t have to waste all the time explaining how many D-Ranks the team had to do and what they consisted of. This one however was custom made by her current Sensei.  
Ino read what Anko-Sensei wanted her to do. She had to observe a special target for a few hours without getting caught by its two guards. The reason for this mission was obvious, since it would train Inos stealth skills and at the same time would give her the chance to take a little break. It would still be hard to accomplish the mission because of the guards but it was more of a task for her mind than for her body.

"You have as much time as described in the scroll to get as much information about the target as you can. I´ll find you after your time is up. If what you found out is good enough to please me, I'll give you a last task and we call it a day. If you can´t answer my questions at that point we will train till you _really_ can´t move anymore! And now go!"

Ino got up and headed to the area were the scroll said that her target would stay. She didn´t see the smirk that suddenly appeared on Ankos face and neither did she notice the small snake that followed her. At first it was hard for her to walk because of her aching muscles but after a few minutes of walking she felt like she could use a faster pace. Soon she was jumping through the trees again, her pain and exhaustion washed away by the excitement of her mission. She had to avoid getting caught by two Jounin guards, maybe even more skilled. If she succeeded she could make up for disappointing Anko. Afterall the woman was something like her new role model, though the rumors about her Sensei were quite...naughty to describe. Not that she believed what people told her, but for now she would try to become a ninja like Anko-Sensei and if the woman gave her a few other tips about her social life she wouldn´t refuse them. although she wouldn´t copy Anko. It was never useful to copy people no matter what and Ino already had a small reputation herself, false as it was.

Soon she reached the place where her target was training. Hiding in the trees Ino started to observe. She didn´t know exactly why she had to watch Naruto train, besides working on her stealth skills, but what she saw now was an impressive view. Before her eyes were around 50 Narutos all gathered in different groups. Of course those were clones. A few doing chakra exercises, other practicing jutsu, some were meditating while the rest was dispelling genjtusu of some kind. Only one of them, the one Ino thought of as the original, was doing taijutsu with Asuma-Sensei and Jyraija-Sama. He had cuts and bruises all over him, his shirt was torn at several places and his jacket lay discarded on the ground. The blond girl saw her roommate attack the two teachers again and again, only to fail at landing a strike on them. She heard Asuma berating him about his faulty technique and how to do it right. She saw his frustration in his face and the way his body moved, but she never saw Naruto giving up. And he was doing good at taijutsu if you compared that to the skills his clones showed in dispelling genjutsu.  
Maybe Anko-Sensei really wasn´t demanding too much from her. Ino thought about how she would do if she had to take Narutos excercise for a few minutes. Training with only two clones would leave her without any chakra left to fight, let alone doing the exercises Naruto was undergoing right now.

Ino changed her position, just to be sure she wasn´t spotted early and continued watching. She tried to remember what Asuma and Jyrajia-sama teached Naruto for Ankos questioning later and for her own use. For example she listened to Jyrajia telling Naruto about some water jutsu she thought wouldn´t be too hard for her to try. Anko had given her the chakra card in one of the earlier lessons and it had shown the blond girl was a water type. Shizune-Sensei had commented how water types were useful for medical jutsu when Ino had told her the next day in the hospital. Now Ino tried to learn as much about water jutsu as possible.  
She also listened to Asumas teachings about taijutsu although she had already heard them before. All in all she listened to everything important and tried not to get caught. A few times she thought that the old Sennin had noticed her and it felt like Asuma had been distracted by her at some point, causing Naruto to land a direct hit at his face.  
Still Ino tried her best to hide herself. Maybe they had spotted her, but in the end this was about giving her best not to get caught. As long as they didn´t go after her she had to do something right. She was sure that Anko-Sensei had told them about her task while Ino got here. Maybe there was another thing behind this mission besides just being stealthy and gathering information. Ninjas had to look underneath the underneath afterall and sometimes the real reasons for mission were different from what stood on the paper.  
That in mind she tried to figure out what she could learn from the scene in front of her and less about any information she could get from Naruto or his senseis. After a while she found a very good reason why Anko had sent her here and she was ashamed to not having seen it faster. This wasn´t about what Narutos training was, or at least that wasn´t all. It was about how he dealt with the tasks given to him, compared to how she herself had dealt with them. She whispered her thoughts out loud and a second later she realized that there was the sound of a "poof" and besides her Anko sensei appeared.

"Your time is up. Now follow me so we can talk about what you found out." she whispered to Ino in a harsh voice. The girl just nodded and followed her Sensei to their usual training grounds. There both of them sat down in a clearing. Anko studied her pupil with hard eyes, causing the girl to turn her face away. In her excitement Ino had forgotten how angry Anko had been with her before. The two of them sat there for a minute and then the Sensei was the first to speak. She ordered Ino to tell her everything she had learned today. The girl did as she was told and explained everything she had seen Naruto and his clones do. Also she described the behavior and the condition of her target and the guards. She didn´t even forget to mention about how she suspected Asuma and Jyraija of spotting her a few times. Then she began to explain what she had learned about hiding in an area like she had been in. Ino went into the pro and contra of hiding in trees or on the ground and things like that.  
All the time Anko-sensei listened to her without asking any questions. A few times she nodded her head about something Ino said, but the stern look on her face remained. It got Ino very nervous and made her feel like she had done everything wrong. When she finished her report She couldn´t take her eyes off her hands.

"Is that all?" came Ankos question. Ino just nodded. She didn´t voice her suspicion about why Anko had given her this mission. It was just a guess afterall and if she was wrong it would be a very embarrassing situation. Ino didn't want that.

"I want a spoken answer missy. Just a nod wont do in front of the Hokage or your team captain. Its disrespectful."

"That is all the information I gathered Anko-sensei. Besides what I´ve just told you everything else is just speculation on my part and no facts." This time Ino looked her Sensei in the eyes and flinched. She couldn´t tell if the woman before her was angry anymore. Her face was an emotionless mask that told Ino nothing.

"Mind to share your speculations with me? I'm curious what you think about this mission."

Now Ino had nothing to lose anymore. She had to tell what she thought and it probably it wouldn´t change anything if her thoughts were wrong. Taking a deep breath Ino choose her words before she began to speak. Her heart was beating at a rapid pace now, because of her nervousness. And then she started to speak.

"Well I am thinking that this mission wasn´t about sharpening my observation skills or gathering information on ninja techniques. I believe you gave it to me to show me that I had to take my training as serious as if it was a real mission and that it could´ve been a lot worse than what it was till now. I think you also wanted to show me how much Naruto gives into his training without complaining as much I did when he gets injured." Ino said as confident as she could. Again she couldn´t read anything from Ankos face or her body language.

For the next few minutes neither of the two said anything and both just watched the other. For Ino it was pure torture and she suspected that Anko didn´t say anything as a punishment for not running the laps earlier. The blond flower girl decided that there was no use being nervous anymore. Right now it she had either made Anko angry or had said the right things. Now she had to wait. WIth that she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Knowing that she couldn´t change what she had done or said she waited for her sensei to speak again.

It took another minute before Ankos face softened, her lips turned into a proud smirk a she laid a hand on Inos shoulders.

"Very good. You may need to train your body a lot more but at least your mind is as sharp as a Kunai already. That can make up for a lot of other things when you are fighting. At that point your way more talented than Naruto." Anko praised her pupil. "Still you have to train more and go beyond your limits to not get yourself killed. Want me to tell you what the Hokage has planned with you two? Maybe it will give you a reason to work harder."

"Yes please tell me Anko sensei."

"Hogake-sama plans on making Naruto an you a two person team, to gather information and if needed strike at critical enemy locations. She thinks that with Narutos natural skill to find unpredicted possibilities and your analytical mind the two of you will do a great deal for the village. She has this planned since she knows about both of your situations."

"Really? She thinks that much of us?" Ino asked not believing was had just been told. This sounded really really cool. Even more if Hokage-sama really thought that much of her and Naruto it was the best motivation she could get. Ino decided that from now on she would train as hard as she could, to not fail the expectations.

"Yes and I for my part think she has good reason for it. So now promise me that from now on you will give me you best and more when we train. Afterwards I´ll tell you what you will have to do tomorrow."

"I promise that I will train as hard as possible and not back down again." Ino told her sensei.

"Very good Ino. Now you will have the next few days off. Same goes for Naruto. Shizune, Asuma, Jyrajia and myself are all busy and can´t train you. Maybe you should use that time to train together with Naruto so you can work better as a team. And then there is also another thing I wanted to talk about."

The second topic wasn´t something Anko sensei liked to talk about, that much Ino could see but it seemed to be very important. Ino asked herself what that could be. Anyway she would find out in a few seconds. The plan to train with Naruto sounded good to her. Maybe he could show her a few tricks and vica versa.

"Now, you know about how we talked about getting information from someone right?" The blond girl gave her Sensei a nod. "Well for kunoichi there are certain other ways to get information. Especially from males. You know what I mean?"

Ino blushed but nodded again. They had these classes in the academy before. Most embarrassing experience in her life so far.

"Well, You wont need to..." Anko stopped her speech for a moment. Then she seemed to decide something. "Oh screw it. I wanted to take this slow for you but just not me. Excuse me for it please. Well you wont have to fuck with somebody to get information. As soon as you are alone with a person you can use your family jutsu. Still I want you to get used to sharing the bed with someone and being close to other people in general."

"WHAT? WHY THE HELL WOULD I DO THAT?" Ino screeched.

"Calm the fuck down missy." Anko hissed at her. She hated people yelling at her. "Sometimes on a mission you have to stay real close with your teammates to safe room, or you have to pretend to be boyfriend an girlfriend for the missions sake. Or you have to get close to a target by...you know the whole seducing stuff. And its awkward as fuck to do it on a mission for the first time. Worse even. Its dangerous for you. Thats why I want you to learn a few things while your in safe waters you know? I don´t want you to have sex or something like that. No one should be forced to that. But to know how it is to sleep in someones arms and to share a bed with someone can´t hurt you. And your situation with the blond brat is perfect. You trust eachother don't you?"

Ino hesitated but then confirmed what Anko-sensei had last said. Also she saw how everything the woman had said so far had been right. Why not listen to her a bit further.

"I can´t decide that for you of course, but trust me you don´t want to learn these things with a stranger on a mission where your life depends on it. So please think about it. I doubt the gaki would mind it if he has to sleep close to _You._."

"Why do you think that?" Ino asked. Why shouldn´t Naruto mind if she asked him to share the bed with her. Sure they had slept on the couch together but no one knew about that.

"Because he's a guy and you are very pretty for your age missy. So will you try it? Please?" Anko asked her. Seeing how important it was to her Sensei Ino agreed. She didn´t know how to convince Naruto about it yet but she agreed anyway.

"Thats a good girl. Now I have to go. Enjoy your time without me dragging you through this forest."

With that Anko left Ino alone to her thoughts. The blond girl had a lot to think about for now. While it was easy to see Anko-senseis reasoning it was a lot harder to actually do what she had asked.  
Not because Ino had a problem with being close to somebody else, she had proven often enough that it wasn´t that hard to be close to someone else. You just had to look at all the hugs she had given Sasuke. Sleeping next to somebody else wouldn´t be so much harder in her opinion.  
The hard thing would be to convince the other person, in this case Naruto. No matter what Anko-sensei had said about him not minding, Ino knew better. For Naruto even the simplest signs of affection had a lot deeper meaning than they had for other people. She had learned that in her short time with him.  
Now she had to make sure he didn´t take it in the wrong way if she asked him to share the bed with her. At least she trusted him not to do anything perverted. Well at least nothing too perverted, he was a boy afterall and they all had a little pervert inside of them.

If she could explain the situation to him, she was sure he would agree. Afterall this was training and they both would learn something for future missions. Knowing Naruto he would be up to anything that could count as training. Yes that was the best way to convince her blond roommate, without scaring the shit out of him or having to worry about him thinking too much about it.  
Also Ino decided that it couldn´t hurt to bribe him a little bit before she asked him. Food was always a good way to calm Naruto down and Ino wouldn´t mind to have a little snack in the shop where her team always ate.

Well now that she had a plan she needed to get up and make sure it worked. With that she left the clearing and headed to the restaurant to make a reservation. After that she would have to go to Narutos place and somehow bring him to leave his fuinjutsu studies alone for one evening.  
Ever since he had gotten the diary from Jyraija-Sama he had worked on mastering whatever was inside of it and as far as Ino knew Naruto had even spend some nights learning instead of sleeping. Whenever that happened she had found him sleeping on the table with his notes and a few papers, which had seals on them, scattered around him.

Ino didn´t know why he took fuinjutsu so serious but she suspected that it had something to do with the whole Uzumaki clan thing. If it wasn´t that the only other reason was because Naruto was a natural with seals. Anyway tearing him away from that would be another thing Ino had to do. Hopefully he was at some kind of dead end. If Naruto was frustrated it would make things so much easier for her.

As the apartment came into view Ino repeated everything she had planned in her head. She knew that Naruto would be home now, because his training always ended at the same time every day. She would have to force him into some of his more stylish clothes, maybe the ones she they had bought together and then drag him to the restaurant. There she would start talking about training. From then on it should be easy for her to come to the point where she would pick up the topic of sleeping in the same bed. Hopefully he would go along with her plans.  
If not she had already prepared more drastic measures to ensure him playing along. Either way she was prepared for an embarrassing night for both of them.  
Reaching the front door Ino took one last deep breath and then opened it.

„Hey Naruto I am home." she yelled to make sure he knew about her arrival. She didn´t want to walk in on him doing...you know private things. It had been bad enough for her to find his porn stash when she had cleaned the apartment a week ago. Naruto had walked in on her reading his books. No need to tell how embarrassing it had been to talk to him about that. Well mostly for him because Ino had teased him a lot about it. He had gotten her when he asked why she had read it if it was „just porn" as she said, but he had been more embarrassed in the end.  
After that they had both agreed to make sure the other knew if one of them came home, just in case.  
Ino waited gor Naruto to greet her, but got no answer from him. She knew he wasn´t in the shower and the living room was also empty. That left the kitchen or the bedroom for him to be in. The bedroom was ruled out since it was too early for Naruto to go to bed. He never went to bed before 10 pm not matter how tired he was. It was one of his many bad habits.  
That in mind Ino went into the kitchen and found the boy sleeping and drooling on the kitchen table. As she had already predicted he had his notes and seal papers lying around him and on the floor lay the book he had gotten from his Sensei. All in all it was an adorable picture to look at, not only because he looked so cute but also because how far Naruto pushed himself for his precious people. She had heard the story about Haku from Sakura when they had first returned from that mission, but Ino had learned how much it really meant for Naruto when she had asked him about it in one of the evening talks the two of them had from time to time. It was inspiring to hear him talk about protecting others. That was a goal both of them shared, but while Ino mostly cared for her friends and family, Naruto took the whole concept to a new level. He wanted to protect the whole village no matter what.  
When he had told her about that it had changed her view about him, because she had seen how serious he took what he said and only encouraged her to make sure Naruto would be a strong Ninja one day.

Sadly Ino had to destroy the scene before her. Naruto had to wake up so both of them could get ready to go out. She was rather hungry and also she still had to convince him about Anko-senseis idea. Therefore he had to shower and dress himself properly. There was no way Ino would take him to eat something in his current clothes. Afterall she had a reputation to lose. The most fashionable girl wouldn´t be seen going to dinner with a boy in torn training clothes.  
Naruto didn´t need to be dressed for a date or something, but at least he had to look good enough to go out.

The blond girl went next to him and bend down till her mouth was next to his ear. In a sweet and sexy voice she cooed his name. She was sure he would wake up from that and be to perplex to complain about her waking him.  
The boy stirred but didn´t wake up. Maybe his training had tiered him out more than she had thought. Well then, there was always another way to wake him up. Sakura would´ve just hit him over the head, but then again he had done nothing to deserve such treatment. Instead Ino settled on yelling as loud as she could. That was also a mean way to wake somebody but still not as bad as to hurt him.

„WAKE UP NARUTO! NOW!"

Before she could even blink Naruto sat straight in his chair looking for an attacker. He turned his head so fast that he lost his balance and fell from the chair, pulling Ino down with him and causing her to fall over. Luckily the girl didn´t land on the hard floor but on her blond roommate who instantly turned red when he noticed how close their faces were now.

„Ino? W...Wha...What happened?" he stuttered. Being woken this way and having a girl fall on him had caused his brain to shut down for a moment. Or at least that was what Ino thought as she fought her own blush. Damn why didn´t she fall on the floor.

„Nothing Idiot! You fell and pulled me down! Now get ready I want you and me to go out and eat something!" she told him before she got up as fast as she could. She had no intention of letting the situation get more awkward as it already was.

„You mean like a date or something?" Naruto asked in his still sleepy state. He didn´t even know why he had asked something stupid like that. Of course Ino wouldn´t want to go on a date with him.

For a moment there was silence before Ino broke it.

„Yeah something like a date. But not the romantic kind of date you know? I have something to talk about and I thought we could settle it over dinner. Now get ready. I'm not going to let you accompany me in your torn clothes. Why don't you shower and dress in one of the outfits we got some time ago huh?"

„O..Ok. If it makes you happy. Though I don´t know why its important to dress up and go out. We could just have some ramen instead."

Ino groaned and gave him a look that clearly said he should just do as he was told.

„No Naruto, not today."

„But."

„Shower! Now! And no complaints!" she said in a voice only she and her mother were able to pull of. It always worked on her dad and seeing that Naruto had already shut the bathroom door, she was proud it also worked on him.

Now it was time for her to pick up her own outfit for tonight, before she could also use the shower and get ready. Grinning she went into the bedroom. Maybe this evening could turn out to be fun afterall.

As soon as Naruto emerged from the bathroom, dressed in the standard Ninja pants and a simple black T-shirt with mix of orange markings on it, Ino took over the bathroom. Naruto wasn´t the only one in need of a shower. Her own training, though it had been a bit easier today, had left her smelly and dirty. So she spent the next fifteen minutes showering before she got dressed. She also wore a black shirt, but hers had a beautiful drawing of a red rose on the backside, with the stem winding all around the shirts midriff and ended just at the hem of the shirt right over her hips. Also Ino had chosen to wear a black an purple skirt, carefully chosing this one because it wasn´t too short, but just long enough too not show too much of her legs. There was a difference between looking sexy and looking like a whore and the blond girl prefered to be considered the first one. Also it was pretty warm at this time of the year, so a little bit free skin couldn´t hurt. She added a few accessories and then looked in the mirror. Since this wasn´t a date she decided against make-up. She looked good enough without it anyway. Since she knew Naruto liked it when her hair was down and not in its usual pigtail Ino wanted to wear it that way just to tease him a bit.  
He had to like it that way since he blushed every time he saw her like that. A last look in the mirror confirmed that she would surely make him blush again tonight. That in mind she left the bathroom with a smirk gracing her lips. Blondie had no idea what was waiting for him tonight. Although she knew that it would get pretty awkward for both of them later she couldn´t wait to see Narutos reactions this evening. As annoying as it was sometimes his goofy attitude was, dare she say it, really cute.  
That in mind she left the bathroom to find her friend. She found him sitting in the kitchen again, leaned over his damned sealing book and scribbling some notes on a paper. His addiction to fuinjutsu seemed to be just a big as the ramen addiction he suffered from.

„Really Naruto? Can´t you take a little break from all of this? I leave for five minutes only to find you working on this again."

„You left for twenty minutes and I really need to learn this if I want to become the greatest Hokage ever." He said without even looking at Ino. Now it was on. If the girl hated on thing it was people not giving her the attention she thought she deserved. She went over to Naruto, grabbed his ear and pulled him away from the notes and outside the apartment, while ignoring all his whining about her being mean and cruel to him.

„See that is what happens if you act like a jerk to your friends!" she told him. „Now come on. We need to get to the restaurant. You´re paying by the way."

„Nani? But why do I have to..."

„Because you were a jerk just now. You didn´t even compliment me on my outfit, but totally ignored me."

As soon as Ino had said that Naruto gave a closer look at her outfit. apparently she had to look better then she had thought, considering his blush was even deeper than normal.

„Wow..." was the only thing coming from the surprised boy, causing Inos smirk to return on her face. Just that moment she got an idea to tease him even more.

„Ah at least you like what you see. Well maybe I should also apologize for being cruel to you."

With that she leaned forward and gave his ear a light kiss. When she leaned back she saw Naruto gaping at her. Ino had to giggle at his expression.

„See, all better. Now come, you´re still paying and I am hungry."

With that she dragged him to the restaurant. There they ordered their food and then began to talk. At first they were ony talking about their training since it was what they spent most time with nowadays. Ino learned that Naruto had training water jutsu, just so he could teach it to her for the next few days. She remembered about their teacher telling her about the day offs.  
In return she told Naruto about her training in reading people and how he should learn a little of that too. Also she told him about her observation mission today. They made plans for training together for the next few days and how to improve their teamwork. Getting along didn´t mean you could work together. Naruto also asked her if she had ever heard something about flower jutsu, since he had stumbled about a description of those in the diary he got from Jyraija.  
As soon as she had heard about it Ino asked her blond boy if she could read that part. Afterall she loved flowers and if she could use them for more than just poison, but for actual jutsu she would be one happy camper.  
The evening went on and they talked and talked. But never came the opportunity to mention a certain topic. That is till Naruto asked her if they could sleep in for those next few days. He really wasn´t a morning person, so he would take every chance to sleep in.

„Well, I think we could sleep a little longer, but only under one condition." Ino replied to his question.

„Huh? Condition? What condition?" Naruto asked confused.

„Well you see...Anko-sensei said something about being prepared for real missions and the problems that could occur on those..."

„Uhm and what has that to do with us sleeping in tomorrow?"

„Well you know she told me that you had to sleep close to somebody quite often, you know to share warmth or because there isn´t enough room."

„Okay but..." Naruto began but Ino interrupted him

„AND she said we should get used to that by...sleeping in the same bed."

„Oh..."

Ino watched as her words sunk into Naruto skull. Surprisingly his answer wasn´t to yell and making a scene. His voice was quiet and calm, though the embarrassment about the topic was evident in his features.

„So you want to...sleep in the same bed. You and me?"

„I think it´s best. We should know about this don´t you think?And I prefer doing this with you over someone I don´t really know."

„HHMm...but my bed is pretty small. We would have to be..."

„Thats just the point Naruto. We have to sleep close to each other. I know this is pretty awkward, but..."

„Okay."

„Huh?"

„I said okay. You´re right. Better you than, for example Sasuke-teme." Naruto smiled at her. „But if anything happens you can´t blame me. I will try not to do anything perverted but Im a guy and I move a lot when I sleep. So if..."

„We will deal with it then." Ino said. She was relieved that he had been so calm about it. Way calmer than she had been. Maybe Asuma had rubbed off on him. She took his hand in her for a moment. „Thank you."

„Don´t thank me yet. Remember that when I do something stupid later okay? Because I know something will happen. It always does and I end up being hit over the head by some girl." he said with a grin.

Ino laughed and let his hand go. That was typical Naruto. Well at least she wouldn´t have to think about his reaction anymore and could enjoy the rest of their meal.  
It was pretty funny and Naruto made everything to make her comfortable. Just as if he knew how much Ankos task had troubled her.

In the end they left the restaurant after Naruto had paid. It was pretty dark outside already and a cold wind blew down the streets. Ino shivered in her shirt and cursed for forgetting her jacket.  
Just then Naruto took his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. She looked at the boy in surprise and he lifted his other had behind the back of his had and rubbed it.

„Why don´t we start being close right here?" he asked with a red face. „Better than being cold, isn´t it?"

Ino smiled at how cute he acted and placed her own arm around his waist leaning a little against him. Sometimes she didn´t know how Naruto could have so many different sides on him, but he had his moments.

„Well then lets go home." she said and both of them started to walk arm in arm. Little did they know about four pairs of eyes, that had watched them all night, following their trail.  
As soon as the two teens were out of sight two shadows vanished into the night, while two remained at its place unsure of what exactly they had just witnessed.

/

Without knowing that they had been watched most of the evening the blond pair got to Narutos home without anything happening. When they were inside Ino went into the bathroom again to get ready for bed, while Naruto just sat down on the couch, not knowing what to do with himself. Anybody who would've watched him could see how nervous he really was about what Ino had asked from him. Not that he was afraid of it but for him to be that close to somebody was well something unusual. He barely ever received a hug or something like that before he had picked up Ino and now he would be sleeping in the same bed as her. And while it may wouldnt have been a big deal to a lot of people, the fourteen year old boy didn´t know what to make of it. He didn´t know how to act in such a situation and his only hope to survive this was that Ino was just as new to this as he was. Normally his mind wasn´t that active, hell Naruto even admitted that he wasn´t someone to think about things. He just did what he though was right, but now his mind was running wild making up scenarios of every possible way he could screw this up.

luckily for him distraction came soon in the form of his roommate leaving the bathroom in just her panties and a shirt she had borrowed from him. Actually she had just taken it and he hadn't said anything about it, but why would he? She looked good in it and Naruto liked to see her like this, which Ino had noticed and teased him about more than just one night.

Now she just looked at him as if she was expecting him to do something. When he didn´t do anything but look at her, she decided to speak.

„Well? Why are you still dressed? Its time to sleep and I wont have you sleeping in the bed with your clothes on." she told him in the bossy way that he was used from her. Her words broke him out of his thoughts and he started to undress while Ino already got under the sheets.

When he was only dressed in his boxers and his shirt he attempted to join her but the girl stopped him with another request from her side.

„Why don´t you take of your shirt Naruto? If we do this we should do it the most embarrassing way possible. Which means a much free skin as possible on both sides."

„But...I mean...Why?" he asked shocked.

„Well if we do it like this, there is nothing that will surprise us when the „real thing" comes. I know its...well you know...but if we have to do this anyway we should prepare for the worst case and such."

Naruto noticed her red face and he could also feel the blood running through his cheeks, while he thought about her request. Honestly he didn´t want to take his shirt of, even if he understood how reasonable Inos words were. Afterall she didn´t know about his biggest secret yet.  
Thought Ino didn´t know much about sealing she would sure see the seal on his stomach and ask why it was there. Hiding it would also be impossible, because the damn thing wasn´t exactly small. Lying would also be useless. The damn girl was too good at reading him. Suddenly he wasn´t nervous anymore. NOW he was just afraid, because he didn´t see how this could end without her hating him in the end.

„Naruto, I don´t haave all night. Just take your shirt of and come to bed."

„Ähm...Ino od rather not take my shirt of, if you dont mind."

„Oh come on. Its not that big of a deal. Don´t worry I wont tell anybody about ugly scars or something like that. What we do in this room stays here promise."

„Thats not it...:"  
„Well what is it then?" The girl asked in an annoyed and impatient voice. Did he really have to make this more difficult? What was so bad about taking of the damn shirt?

„Its just..." Naruto began.

But before he could finish Ino in her rather rash way of doing things, had already gotten up and stepped in front of the boy. She took the hem of his shirt and in a swift move undressed him, without leaving him any chance to complain.

Narutos reaction to that was to freeze like he had been hit by a kunai. Now there was no way out anymore and suddenly his shock about Inos actions mixed with utter panic. Meanwhile the girl watched his reaction and while she did she noticed the rather big seal on his stomach. Though she didn´t know what it was, it had to be the reason for his strange behavior. Not knowing what else to do she just asked him about it.

„Whats that?"

„A seal" Naruto answered without meeting her eyes.

„I can see that. What is it good for? And why are you so fucking scared about me seeing it huh?"

„It seals something inside me...thats what its good for." he said silently.

Little did he know how much he hurt Ino with not telling her the whole truth. And she knew that he was hiding something from her. Why couldn´t he just tell her? Did he not trust her enough or something? Hell she knew about his fucking nightmare already, this seal couldn´t be so much worse for him to tell her about.

„Naruto, I don´t want to pick everything out of your nose. So please tell me what this is about and why you are so afraid. Please I promise no matter what this seal is for, I wont tell anybody. Ok?"

Ino could see that he still was afraid, though she didn´t know of what exactly. So now she tried to relax him with her words. The next few minutes she spent with reassuring Naruto that he could trust her, while the boy still didn´t say anything.  
In the end Ino thought that there was no use and turned to just go to sleep. Actually she did so in a rather angry and hurt way. Before she knew what she said the words already left her mouth.

„Fine, be that way. You know what? I dont give a shit. It seems if been wrong and you don't trust me at all. This whole sharing a bed thing was just stupid, so please could you sleep on the couch tonight? If you trust me so little there is no use for sleeping in the same room. So please just leave."

She didn´t know why it hurt so much that Naruto didn´t want to tell her. And worse she was confused about why he had been okay with sharing a bed, but didn´t want to talk about some stupid seal that was probably just for his training or something.  
Naruto on the other hand realised he had hurt the girl and tried to make it right again. Sadly there was only one way to do so. And the result of that would be that she hated him anyway after he told her. Or so he thought. Still, if he had to sleep on the couch anyway tonight he could at least prove to Ino that he did trust her. Afterall she had been there for him and made his life better since she had started living with him. She deserved to know..

„I know you will hate me, but if you have to know...the seal is one of the yondanimes seals. Actually he applied it personally..." Naruto began and Inos head shot up. Did she just heard that right?

„As I said the yondanime applied it fourteen years ago. In the night when the kyuubi attacked the village to be exact." the blond boy continued.

By now Ino knew where this was heading and her mind proceeded on how to deal with the information. It couldn´t be true could it?

„So as you probably concluded already that seal was used to seal the nine tailed fox inside me. Thats what its for and why I didn´t want you to know about it." Naruto finished.

So it was true. Actually it all fit together. The glares of the villagers, the parents telling children not to go to him, his need for attention in the academy, his birthdate, his hesitation to take his shirt of. Everything she knew about Naruto fit in to what he had just told her. For a few seconds Ino didn´t know what to say or how to react to this. She could understand why he had kept that secret for himself. Hell she would've done the same, but at the same time she was hurt he hadn´t trusted her.  
While Ino still tried to figure out how to react, Naruto had already decided to leave before she got angry and started yelling. He just knew that Ino would hate him now. Who would still be friends with someone like him? He was just about to reach the bedroom door when Ino took his arm and turned him around to face her.  
The next thing he knew was the burning sting, where her hand had slapped his face. He closed his eyes and prepared for another slap, but it never came. Instead the blond girl pulled him over to the bed, pushed him onto the mattress and then laid down next to him.  
She took one of his hands in her own and then turned on her side. Because of this the two of the ended in a spooning position, with her back facing Narutos chest, while one of his arms was draped her body.  
Naruto had no idea what was going on or why Ino did what she just did.

„Just so you know, I am still angry at you for not telling me jackass!" Ino said to him. „Did you really think I would turn on you? After what you did for me? Do you really think so bad of me?"

„I...I don´t understand. Whats going on here?" Naruto asked „You don't hate me? But..."

„Why should I hate you?" Ino whispered and it scared Naruto, because Ino never ever did something like that. She always had been loud when she was angry, but now she was calm but her voice clearly showed how hurt she was.

„Because I have the fucking Nine-tails inside me! Im a Monster!"

„Yeah sure and Sasuke is the tooth fairy! Listen Naruto and listen good because im not gonna repeat myself. You are not a monster. You are an idiot and a jackass but no monster. Wanna know why?"

„Yes"

„Because if you really were a monster, you would have already killed this whole village for how they treat you. You would never have fought for Hinata against Neji. You wouldn´t have picked me up from the streets and let me live here. Hell we have slept in the same room for more than a month now and you were fucking scared about telling me that you have something sealed inside you. If you are a monster then so is everyone else in this village." Ino explained to him.

„So you´re not angry?"

„Of course im angry Uzumaki! You didn´t trust me, when you should have known that you could. Anyway I wont scream at you for something you couldn´t control or change. If the fox was sealed safe inside you the last few years why should I be afraid? There is no way that you are a demon. Youre way to clumsy for that. But remember next time you have some secret like that, don't you dare keep it from me! Like I said before your secrets are safe with me. I think I deserve better."

„Thank you." he didn´t know what else to say.

Inos speech made Naruto relax. He had expected her to freak out, yell and tell everybody, but she had proven him wrong. She really was his friend. He didn´t know what to say and so he stayed silent.

Ino on the other hand continued her rant about him not trusting her for quite a while. She had decided that Naruto was Naruto, fox or no fox. If he had beaten Gaara he sure could´ve done a lot of bad things to her. Yet he didn´t. So he was no monster and with that she had only a reason to be angry at him but none to fear him.

At some point she stopped speaking and tried to sleep, which was rather hard. Her anger had made it easy for her to not think about what she was doing when she pulled Naruto next to her, but now that she had calmed down she realised how close they were. It wasn´t uncomfortable, the opposite to say the truth but somehow their position felt wrong. Maybe because Naruto still held some distance between them? She didn´t know, but to tell the truth she wanted him to hold her closer. Just a little bit, so she could enjoy his body warmth more. But whenever she tried to change her position Naruto did the same, always keeping a slight gab between their body's.  
After a while Ino had enough.

„Naruto? Could you please move a little bit closer. Im cold."

„Uhm...I´d rather not...please."

„Why not? Are you uncomfortable with lying close to me?"

„No not really...the opposite to be exact but uhm...you know...I...and you in this position...caused a reaction...you know?"

From the embarrassment in his voice and from the hints Naruto had given Ino knew what was up. She couldn't help but giggle about the situation. This really took a lot of the previous tension from the pair of teens.

„Ah, so Im giving you a hard time Naru-chan?"

„You could say that..."

„Well then we should make sure you enjoy it ne?"

With that said Ino moved her bottom right against Narutos boxer causing him to groan. She smirked at that, because now she had a way to punish him for not trusting her AND something she could tease him with for the next few weeks. That in mind she lost all of her previous fears of how embarrassing this night would be and most of her anger she had held till now.  
Afterall both of them were considered adults in the village and while Ino wasn´t a slut, she still had no problem with making Naruto squirm with her body, Actually it was flattering to know she could cause such a reaction.

„Ino please...stop"

„What? Don´t you like me rubbing against you?" She asked and moved just a little more against her erection.

„I do, but please...stop"

„Only under one condition!"

„I´ll do everything."

„Good! From now on you will keep no secrets from me anymore! At least not the important ones. Also as a punishment for tonight you will treat me to a nice dinner, NO RAMEN!" she told him. Oh and from now on whenever we are in bed you´ll do exactly as I say as long as I tell you otherwise. No matter how embarrassing it will be. Understood?"

„Yes yes. Please, stop before I do something I´ll regret later." he panted. obviously she was better with teasing his body than she had realised so far.

„Very well then. Now I expect you to hold me closer. Im still cold and I don´t care if you have a boner, were not little kids."

She felt Naruto pull her again him and relaxed into his warmth. After a few moments Naruto also relaxed and after a while her mind got all fuzzy. Her last thought before she drifted away was about what Anko would say when she found out about it. Ino suspected she would laugh her ass of.  
And so she fell asleep with a smile on her face.


	7. Chapter 7

For the third time this night Ino woke up. She had shifted from her previous position again and now lay on her side, facing Narutos bare chest. His arm was still around her and she could feel his fingers drawing circles between her shoulder blades through her shirt. At least she wasn´t the only one who couldnt sleep.  
This whole situation, as nice as it felt, was just too new to have a deep and relaxed sleep. She placed her arm around his waist and pulled herself a little closer to him, snuggling into his chest before a sigh escaped her mouth.

„Can´t sleep either, huh?" Came Narutos voice from above her head.  
She just nodded into his chest and enjoyed the feeling of his fingers on her back. It surprised her all the time how Narutos instinct managed to let him do just the right things. At least sometimes.

„Its the third time I wake up." she told him. Maybe a little talking would make her fall asleep again.

„Good thing we have no training tomorrow." he joked and managed to bring a smile on her face.

„Yeah, just as if Anko-sensei had known we wouldn´t sleep good."

„You know, I think we just got these days off to get used to sleeping together."

„Not that it matters, does it? Oh by the way could you rub my back a little bit lower?"

Without giving an answer Naruto started to do as she had told. Ino didn´t know why but she knew she could get used, if not addicted to have Naruto do that to her. His hand was warm and somehow he managed to just find the right pattern to relax her tense muscles.

„Hey whiskers? Can I ask you something?"

„Hhhm..."

„Did you ever imagine that we would end up like this? You know, you and me together in one bed?"

„Not really. Actually I didn´t think that I would end up with anybody because of who I am. Girls don´t really like to end up with the loser. Which Sakura has told me more than just once."

She knew he was joking, at least partly but still to hear him say that made her feel bad about how she had treated him before all of this had started.

„Wanna know a secret? I had to live with said loser for a while and can´t really complain. Especially since he has such skilled hands. Sakura and the others don´t know what they are missing out on."

„You really mean that?" Naruto asked in surprise.

„Uh-huh. Don´t sell yourself short whiskers. I'm happy that you picked me up that night. Afterall you didn´t have to and now see how much you have done. We have really great teachers and improved a lot, the two of us became really close and soon we will be a team that Hokage-sama herself wants to use for gathering information. Also you have matured a lot since the academy. Things could´ve turned out worse if you ask me."

„If you say it like that, I suppose you´re right."

„Of course I am. Afterall I am the brain of this team. Now please if you could rub a little lower again."

„But..."

„No buts, do as I said. I know where your hands will be, but my muscles there are sore too.  
As long as dont lower your hand any more than I say you will be fine. „

„O-Ok-Okay If you say so."

„I do. Now be a good boy. Maybe tomorrow you´ll get a reward.

„Troublesome woman."

„And don´t you dare to start with that too foxy. Or else I´ll show you troublesome."

As Naruto continued to rub her backside, though now with shaking hands because of where exactly his hands had traveled, Ino decided that getting used to this wasn´so bad.

Her roommate made this all pretty easy. Truth be told Naruto made everything pretty easy.

The girl that would someday make Naruto her boyfriend wouldn´t have much to complain about, as far as Ino was concerned. Sure he needed a little bit work, like someone to teach him some sense of fashion and how to eat healthy for example, but all of that were just small things.  
Compared to guys like Sasuke and Neji, who you needed to threaten before they would talk about feelings and such things, Naruto was a real gem.

Too bad that he was still hung up on Sakura or else...Well she didn´t know, it was not that she _really _wanted to be with him. Maybe she had considered the possibility once or twice since her first lesson with Anko-sensei and Shizune-Sensei, but there was no way that Ino Yamanaka would fall for Naruto Uzumaki. That was just impossible. I mean why would he want her? She was loud, bossy, a gossip addict and she made fun of him whenever she could. The only thing going for her was her looks. No Naruto wouldn´t be happy if she were his girlfriend.  
However as soon as she had thought this, she unconsciously pulled herself closer to him, so that now there was absolutely no space between them anymore.  
Naruto noticed this and interpreted it as her being cold. A moment later she felt the blanket being pulled over her shoulders, before they boy started to rub her back again.

„Are you comfortable Ino? Or do you want to sleep in another position. I don´t mind if you do."

„Im fine, just...lets just stay like this okay? I like being like this with you whiskers."

„Me too. Wouldn´t trade it for a year of ramen. It´s not to often that you can share the bed with the most beautiful girl you know, is it?"

She smiled at his compliment. He just knew how to make her feel good. That stupid, adorable boy probably didn´t even know how it made her feel.

„Don´t flatter yourself Naruto. You´re really not that much of a pretty girl." she joked.

„You realise how bad that joke was, don´t you?"

„Maybe I should make jokes about you having a „hard time" again, huh?"

„HEY!"

„Don´t worry. I won´t tell anybody how much you like sleeping with me. Well maybe my dad, just to see his reaction."

„I see a heart attack in the near future."

„For you or my dad?"

„Both of course. First him and then when he recovers from the shock and hunts me down I will have one."

„Well then I won´t do it. Can´t risk to lose my new teddy bear now, can I?"

„Well I suppose its better to be a teddy bear, than being considered a boy toy, isn´t it?"

„Damn right. And now be quiet and rub my back, or else none of us will have enough sleep."

„As my lady wishes."

„Idiot."

With that the room fell silent again. And while Ino started to drift into sleep for the fourth time that night, she thought that maybe she could try dating Naruto. They shared a apartment, they shared a bedroom now they slept in the same bed. Other people dated for weeks and never came that far. And a date didn´t mean that she was head over heels for the boy, which she definitely wasn´t, but Ino just wanted to see if there could be something between the two of them.  
If not they could still be friends like now. And if there was something more, they would make the cutest couple in whole Konoha. Anyway that could wait. Now she wanted to just enjoy the situation she was in.  
All she had to do was closing her eyes and concentrate on the movements of Narutos hand. In the end it didnt take her long to fall asleep again.

Meanwhile on the other side of Konoha another couple also lay in bed and couldn´t really sleep. The reason therefore was on purple haired special jonin. Although this time she didn´t kepp Iruka awake like she normally did. Today she just wanted to cuddle and talk, which the chuunin didn´t mind. Time with Anko was always nice and the way his lover was talking right now made him happy.

„They were really cute weren´t they? And how he pulled he close outside the restaurant, I tell you the brat is a natural, just like you."

„Thank you. But do you really think that your matchmaking is the right thing to do? What of Hinata? She likes Naruto. And as far as I know he still likes Sakura."

„Oh please, the Hyuuga can´t even stand next to him without fainting. The boy needs a strong women in his life too push him in the right direction, not someone who idolizes him."

„Okay, and what about Narutos feelings? Are you sure he isn´t into Sakura anymore?"

His answer was that pout he always got, when Anko wanted him to play along. What was worse it actually worked most of the times. Sadly if Naruto was concerned Iruka was a lot more strict than, lets say about having sex on the training grounds. The boy was afterall his little brother in all but blood.

„Im serious Anko. They will have to work as a team soon and then they have to work no matter what. If one of them has his or her feelings hurt by the other this plan of your could seriously backfire."

„Pah, I just told them to get used to sleeping next to somebody, nothing more. And it´s not like there aren´t already feelings in this game. I just know missy has a thing for the brat. Also you have seen them tonight. They didn´t even notice us though we sat just two tables away from them. They only had eyes for each other."

„I know, I know. It really looked like there was something between them, though I still think it was bad to spy on them."

„Ah you and your principles. Always doing whats right. Still I corrupted you enough to follow me it seems."

„You did. Just make sure you don´t corrupt your pupil as bad as you have with me."

„Oh don´t worry. I dont plan on snuggling with blondie. She is a little young and you are more than enough sweety. Anyway I say the brats will come together soon."

„Then lets hope they work out. Not that I have any doubts in them. Ino and Naruto are at least able to talk about their problems. If not with each other than with one of us."

„Yep. We will guide them to be a happy couple wont we?"

Ankos smirk was met with a sigh from Iruka. Why even try to argue with his crazy women? There were plenty of better ways to waste time. As if Anko had read his thoughts she said:

„Well now, I think I deserve a punishment fr meddling with the little ones love lives dont I?"

„ At least you admit it. Now for your punishment.:..."

And with that he tackled Anko down on the bed, earning him a surprised squeak from his lover.  
Afterall some punishments were quite enjoyable if done right. And Iruka always did things right. Whether it was teaching his pupils, helping Naruto out or spending time with his girlfriend.

To say that Ino loved waking up with Naruto the next morning would need to stretch the truth pretty far. First of all it wasn´t morning but noon when the blond girl first opened her eyes. Second she was laying underneath Naruto, who obviously had shifted his position while sleeping. Third she was still tired as if she hadn´t slept in days and fourth she really really had to go to the bathroom.  
Not exactly the best morning in her books. Still the picture of Narutos head resting on her chest, while he slept brought a small smile to her face. Sadly there was still her bathroom problem and Naruto was the one thing stopping her from getting up. So without being too gentle she pushed him away from her and got up. Surprisingly the blond boy just slept on as if she hadn´t even touched him. He just hugged the pillow Inos head had just rested on and kept snoring.  
Ino on the other hand started her morning routine, like brushing her teeth and taking a shower and all those things. After that she got dressed. She really missed her closet with all the clothes she had in her room, but at least Sakura had been able to bring her some things from home, other than the bag Ino had when Naruto had found her. And of course she had the few things she had bought with Naruto some time ago so she could always come up with a good and surprising outfit. Anyway it just wasn´t the same as having her closet to choose an outfit from.

As she came back in the bedroom she found Naruto still sleeping, just that he was now drooling on the pillow in his death grip. The boy really was cute and a little disgusting at the same time. With a smile Ino decided to let him sleep and prepare breakfast to surprise him. Maybe that way she could show him that she really didn´t care about the fox. Well not much anyway. To know your best friend, and Naruto could be considered that right now, had a giant demon inside him was a little bit disturbing no matter what. In Narutos case it was easy to overlook that fact, at least for Ino. Someone who was scared of her getting angry couldn´t be much of a demon. And what kind of demon would allow his host to have a ramen addiction like Naruto had?

Speaking of ramen Ino went into the kitchen and took to cups of Narutos favorite flavour from the cupboard. Since it was already lunch they could eat those instead of a real breakfast. Of course she would still force Naruto to also eat the salat she was now making. Eating ramen for lunch was okay, but it was still her goal to make sure Naruto ate healthy food. One couldn´t live from ramen alone and besides her salat always tasted great.  
The blond girl had secretly been food shopping last week and ever since then she had made sure that there was a variety in what Naruto and herself cooked. The funny thing was, no matter what they ate, Naruto always needed a cup of ramen with it.

Looking into Narutos mostly empty fridge she decided that besides training the two of them had also to get groceries today. Maybe that way she could find out what else she could get her roommate besides his favorite food.  
Anyway that would be done later. Now she had to make the salad, fix the instant ramen (real challenge isn´t it?) and clean up the mess Naruto had left on the kitchen table since he had forgotten to put his sealings notes away yesterday.

All in all it took her no more than half an hour before everything, safe for Naruto, was ready for breakfast or better said lunch. How the boy could still be asleep after the ruckus Ino had made while she had everything prepared was above her.  
She silently went into the bedroom and leaned down till her face was right next to Narutos ear. First she had wanted to scream to wake him, but now she decided that there was a even funnier way to do that. If she was lucky she would even see his cute little blush that made her happy every time she saw it. Unlike Sasuke, who had always been cold and repellent to her ministrations, Naruto always blushed when she showed a little intimacy and there was no better boost for her ego.  
So time to get some of that from her whisker-boy.

„Naruto, wake up sweetie." she cooed into his ear. He stirred a bit but then continued to sleep. Well Ino wasn´t outdone yet.

„Naruto, you really have to wake up. It would be a shame if I had to eat all of that ramen alone."

This time she tried to sound sexy and pouty at the same time. Apparently that way her voice got to him. He opened his eyes and focused on her face.

"Ino?"

Ino could swear she could hear how his brain worked to understand the situation, before he realised how close their faces were and blushed like crazy.  
Having accomplished her goal of making him blush Ino smirked to herself. Without even realising what she was doing she pressed her lips to his temple and went back into the kitchen.

„Get up Whiskers. It´s time to eat."

Naruto simply did as he was told. He still wasn´t totally awake yet and somehow he had imagined her kissing him. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and followed into, who still didn´t even realise she had kissed him.  
When he came to the table Ino had already sat down and watched his still red face. Yep definitely funnier than him falling out of his bed.  
Then he saw the bowls with ramen and the salad. Suddenly all that happened before was erased from his mind.

„Is that ramen?" he asked curiously.

Of course he would notice that first, Ino thought to herself.

„Yep, but you also have to eat the salad." she told him.

„Okay."

Naruto sat down in front of her and grabbed the salad. Ino also started to eat. Surprisingly Naruto didn´t wolf down the salad today, but seemed to enjoy the taste for once. Ino thought that maybe she finally got him to like the stuff. As if he had read her thoughts he swallowed and told her:

„You know, this isn´t so bad once you get used to it. Still ramen is way better but I don´t mind eating salad. At least the one you make."

The girl smiled at his compliment. They continued to eat in silence like they mostly did and after it they cleaned the dishes together.

„So what are we doing today Ino? I bet you already made plans." Naruto asked after they sat at the table again.

„I have a few ideas." she admitted. „You want to hear them?"

„Sure"

„Well I thought that we could share what we´ve learned. You know like jutsu and tactics. Also we have a few other things to do besides training. Well and tomorrow I wanted to go to the Hogake and ask for D-Rank missions so we could test our teamwork. There are a few of them that actually require the skills we have trained for." Ino explained.  
„Sounds good to me. So what are those other things we have to do?"

And with that Ino told him about how they had to go grocerie shopping, that she needed new kunai and a few other minor things before both of them left the house and headed for the training grounds.


	8. Chapter 8

Well, hello again. Here is the new chapter for "Whatever it takes". I don´t know where I wanted to go with this one. I just wrote down what came to my mind. This time I wanted to show Narutos thoughts a little more, since in the last chapters I had my focus on Ino.  
I don´t really know if this turned out to be as good as the last two chapters but it was all that came to my mind

For the next chapter I plan on a little time skip (one or two weeks) inside the story since I have already planed out most of it.

Oh and if you want to leave me a review, just do it. I like reviews.

Now have fun with the chapter.

„You know, if you would´ve listened to me you´d be fine now."

„Shut up. How was I supposed to know that this would happen, huh?"

„Because I told you."

„Just shut up and keep walking Naruto."

Ino could feel the smirk the blond idiot had on his face right now. Even if she couldn´t see it because he carried her on his back, it just had to be there. The one time in his life Naruto had been the one to tell somebody that their idea was stupid and now he enjoyed being right about it.  
So what if she had used to much of her chakra after he had taught her the Kage Bushin? It wasn´t her fault that the stupid boy had more chakra than everyone else and made the jutsu seem fucking easy. How was she to know that ten Kage Bushin were her limit?  
Well maybe because he told her something like that before she used the jutsu, but that was beside the point. It was NOT her fault that he had to carry her now. It was his for teaching her the stupid Jutsu in first place. He should´ve just said no when Ino had first asked him.

„Hey, don´t be grumpy. You learned a Jounin level Jutsu today AND managed to make five clones. I didn´t even manage to create a single Bushin in the academy." Naruto said and brought Ino out of her inner monologue.

„How many Clones did you create the first time you used the Kage Bushin?"

„Something around a few hundreds." he admitted to her.

„And you say TEN is a good number compared to that?" she asked irritated.

„Uhm maybe Im not the best example. I don´t even know how many clones Kakashi-sensei can do before using to much chakra. Anyway now it will be easier for you to master the water element, wont it? I mean if you only create five clones you should still have enough chakra to fight. If you ask me that is impressive enough."

„Its something I suppose" Ino agreed. Mastering elemental Chakra was a pain. While Ino could already use one of the water jutsu Jiraiya had shown Naruto it wasn´t nearly as strong as it should be. Therefore she had to improve her control over the element, which wasn´t as easy as she had thought. Naruto didn´t do much better, but in the end he could use Kage Bushin to fasten the process.  
That was why Ino had wanted to learn the Jutsu, that had exhausted her so much, in first place.  
The two of them had started too train before noon, after they had gotten all the things they needed and had spend almost all day on the training grounds.  
Sometimes they had taken a break and discussed the things they had learned so far and what they thought would be useful for the other. In the end Ino had forced them to finish by creating to many Kage Bushin and draining most of her chakra.  
Now Naruto had to carry her on his back because she could walk on her own anymore. As useful as the boy trademark Jutsu was, Ino knew she would never be able to use it like Naruto. Five clones was her limit if she wanted to use them properly, which meant she could learn five times as fast as normal. Spending one day of training seemed to be a small price for such an improvement to her. Afterall she HAD learned a jounin level Jutsu today. Maybe she should see the positive side, just like her blond friend did.

„SO..." Naruto started again. „Tommorow we go to the Hokage tower and ask for those stupid D-Rank missions?"

Ino smiled to herself. Honestly she didn´t want to go with her original plan anymore. Doing D-Ranks to improve their teamwork sounded good first, but after today she thought that they would be able to also do that while they were training. And the blond girl really wasn´t to thrilled to do chores when she could train skills that were actually useful.

„ I don´t know, maybe we should just train like we did today. With your clones as enemies we can set up a lot of scenarios to improve our teamwork AND train our jutsus by using the clones as targets." She told Naruto. „Sounds like more fun then catching that Tora again, doesn´t it?"

„Hell yeah." Naruto agreed.

„Then its settled. Now bring me home. I am tired and tonight I plan on actually getting some rest."

„HEY! I am not your slave!"

„You´re right. Slave is such a bad word. I prefer to call you my servant whiskers." Ino teased him.

„I should just drop you right here for that comment, but Iruka would lecture me again how that´s no way to treat a lady."

„Too bad isn´t it?" Ino smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, eyes closed. „See the good thing foxy, the faster you get me home the faster we can cuddle again. You liked that didn´t you?"

„ I uh..I...you..." Naruto tried to conter with a red face, but the words just didn´t come out.

„See whiskers, I win. And as my prize I demand you as my pillow again." the blond girl whispered in Narutos ear. „Now get me home, please. If I am still awake when we arrive I´ll even cook something for you as payment okay?"

„Ok...Okay" Naruto answered still red.

If anybody could´ve seen and heard what just happened would think the two of them were a couple. Ino didn't really care about that though. Naruto and her worked good together and those little quarrels between them were fun. Not to mention their situation was special. Afterall there were perfectly good reasons she lived with Naruto, trained with him, shared a bed with him, felt comfortable and safe around him, liked to be near him, lie in his arms and wanted to ki...  
Anyway there were a lot of reasons for the way she felt towards him. If people didn´t see that and assumed they were in love it was their own damn fault!

The two genin were only a few corners away from Narutos place when the boy suddenly stopped. Before Ino could ask what was up with that, or even open her eyes she heard a familiar voice yell:

„THAT can´t be right. I have to be dreaming."

The voice had a mocking tone and belonged to a gril Ino knew all to well. Opening her eyes she could see three girls in front of her and Naruto, all of them former classmates. The one in the middle, Ami, had been the one speaking but all of them had those expressions like christmas had come earliy this year. Ino knew what was going to happen now. These three had been the biggest bullies back in the academy and were always waiting to make someones live miserable. There was no way they would let this chance to get revenge on her and Naruto go.  
Ino had more than once protected people like Sakura from them and Naruto had played a lot of pranks with them as targets. Also all three of them had failed the „real" genin test. Before Ino could think more about it Ami began to speak again.

„What do we have here? The great Ino Yamanaka and the dead-last all lovey dovey together. Isn´t it cute?"

Her friends both snickered at the girls remark before Ami went on:

„ Really I never thought id see the day that the loser over there would find a girl that would stoop so low as to be with him. Anyway it´s kind of fitting that the gets an ungly pig like you Yamanaka."

Ino face became red from anger and she shouted at the stupid bitch in front of her:

„Oh so if hes a loser and Im an ugly pig what are you then? Unlike Naruto you didn´t become genin. Instead when Suna attacked you cried your little eyes out and I had to carry you to the shelter, while Naruto fought Gaara of the Sand! If Naruto is a loser than you´re not even worth to be looked at Ami, which is better anyway because your face looks just like a horse!"

The civilian girl became just as red as Ino and started to shout back. Since she couldn´t insult Naruto with the way things were she decided to focus on Ino. That would be enough revenge for her. So Ami choose the topic she knew it riled Ino up every time in the past.

„Ha you´re just jealous because Sasuke-kun wont ever notice you! Thats why you choose to be with Uzumaki, because no one else would want you!"

„Even if Naruto and I were a couple I would choose him over Sasuke anytime. At least he is nice to the people around him. You wouldn´t get a guy even if you paid him to be with you horse-face!"

Naruto and Amis friends both were watching the scene between the two girls, without knowing what to say. Before they could do anything Ami choose to say the one thing she knew it would hurt Ino.

„Well at least my parents love me and don´t throw me out. Yours instead only see you as a failure and want to have nothing to do with you anymore!"

The insult did exactly what Ami had planned. Though it was nothing but a lie, it hurt Ino to hear those words. She hadn´t talked with her parents ever since she ran away, because she didn't know what they would say to her. Amis words hit just the point Ino was really emotional about. No matter if it was true or not, hearing those words hurt more than any kick Anko had dealt her during their training sessions. Tears swelled in Inos eyes and she began to sob.

„Aawww, did I find a sore spot, little crybaby? Do want to run home to mommy and cry your eyes out? Too bad you can´t huh?" Ami continued.

Sadly in her anger and hate towards Ino, she had forgotten about Naruto even if he carried Ino.  
Amis friends had been smarter than said girl and had already silently left the street to go home. Afterall they had seen Narutos face when Ami had insulted Ino and worse when the blond girl had started sobbing. Both had know that it was better to leave now.

The blond demon vessel started to move slowly. He went to one of the benches that stood at the sideway and gently placed the now sobbing and crying Ino on in. Then he knelt down so he was face to face with the girl.

„Hey, don´t cry. What would Anko think of you? You´re way better than to cry over something as simple as stupid words Ino" he said in calm and gentle voice. Sadly Inos sobs and tears went on. Also it didn´t help that Ami decided to taunt the girl again.

„Stop lying to her! She is nothing but a failure! Even a loser like you is too good for her!"

This however was the last straw for Naruto. He took Ino face in his hands and forced her to look at him.

„Wait here okay? I´ll be right back."

Then he stood up and turned to Ami. Without him noticing his eyes flashed and became red. Slowly he went to the stupid bitch that had made his friend and roommate cry. Seeing his face said girl began to shiver and looked for her friends who had left her long ago. Now Ami was afraid, because the boy in front of her looked absolutely angry and willing to make her suffer.  
She couldn´t even move in fear till Naruto stood right in front of her. That wasn´t the loudmouth from the academy Ami knew. This Naruto was a Ninja who could kill and was angry with her.  
When he spoke his voice was calm, deadly and nearly demonic.

„You have exactly five seconds to leave. If you don´t I´ll show you how much of a failure YOU are and how painful it can´t be to fail in the false situation. And if you ever make Ino cry again or sprout any rumors or lies about and her parents, I promise that you will regret it. Understood?"

The girl just nodded dumbfounded.

„Good. NOW LEAVE!"

And with that Ami ran home as fast as she could. Whatever just had happened it had scared her shitless and she would make sure to never come near Ino Yamanaka or Naruto Uzumaki again.

Meanwhile Naruto had gone back to where Ino was sitting and had picked the still crying girl up in his arms. The last few minutes had ruined the good day the two teens had been having so far.  
Ino just curled against Naruto, not caring about anything anymore. She just wanted to lie down and have him near her, no matter what.

Naruto reached their place pretty fast. They went inside, Ino still in his arms, but not crying anymore and the boy put her into the bed. Then he left for a moment so she could put on her sleeping clothes and to get them some water. When he returned Ino had curled herself into a ball under the blankets and didn´t move. Naruto undressed and laid down right behind her. He turned Ino around and embraced her, making her head rest onto his chest and one of his hands was drawing circles onto her back.  
He knew that Ino was still upset and he didn´t really know what to say or to do. He just did what he thought was right and would help her. Both of them lay there for the next half hour before Ino was kind of calm again. Then Naruto spoke:

„You know that Ami was just spitting bullshit right? Im sure your parents love you more than anything else. No matter what they have done, it surely was because they thought it was best for you. And they know you love them too."

Ino said nothing and just nodded against his chest. She couldn´t say anything and she didn´t want to think about anything right now either.

„Oh and thank you for defending me in front of Ami. I would´ve never know how to get back at that stupid girl." Naruto told her truthfully.

He didn´t know why but when Ino had defended him it had mad him feel happy in a way he never knew was possible.

„I was just saying the truth." Ino mumbled into his chest.

„Still, thank you Ino. Now lets sleep and forget about everything that happened tonight. We still want to train tomorrow and you wanted to actually get some rest tonight."

Reminding her of their earlier conversation made Ino smile a little bit again.

„Well I would sleep if my pillow wouldn´t talk so much." she joke half heartily.

„Then I will shut up my lady." Naruto retorted

„Night foxy."

„Night Ino-Hime"

/

While Ino snored on his chest, something he had a hard time not to laugh at, Naruto thought about what had made her cry. The situation with her parents was something that hurt his friend a lot, as was proven by Ami tonight. The blond boy knew he would have to do something about it soon. Something besides making Ami suffer the worst series of pranks he had up his sleeve.  
Said girl would be humiliated in front of the whole village as often as he would find the time to prank her, just so Ino could laugh at her. Anyway that wouldn´t solve the real problem. He had to fix the relationship between the Yamanak family. It would make Ino happy again and in the time since the girl lived with him Naruto had found nothing that made him feel more lighthearted than a happy Ino.  
The only question was how he could fix the rift between Ino and her parents. He needed to talk to Inoichi and his wife, but without Ino knowing about it. Only if both sides knew how important they were to each other it could and in a happy reunited family.  
Naruto knew he liked Ino a lot. Even more than Sakura-chan and Iruka had told him that if you liked someone that way you had to do everything to make that person happy. Even if Ino didn´like him back he still intended to make her happy.  
He had to plan this as good as possible, that much he knew. It wouldn´t just do to put both parties in the same room and lock them inside with one of his seals. Though that would have to be plan B.  
Absently his hand went to Ino hair and started to stroke over it as gently as possible. Somehow it was a lot easier for him to be close to Ino since they had spent the last night together. During their small training breaks today Ino and him had always been close, both somehow resting comfortable with the other.  
Honestly Naruto didn´t know what to make of this whole situation he was in. Not that it was bad, the opposite in fact, but being close made these new feelings he had for Ino way harder to figure out. He didn´t know if they were just close because they had to or if Ino enjoyed it just as much as he did.  
Of course he wouldn´t tell her about his feelings till he was sure she liked him back. Sakura had been one tough lesson when it came to proclaim his feelings for a girl. A lesson he did not want to repeat.  
While he thought about those things Ino snuggled a little bit closer to his warmth and a content sigh escaped her mouth.  
He loved those small gestures Ino made without know. It was nice to see how comfortable she was with him and gave him hope.  
Also he found the way Ino licked her lips whenever she had something tasty in front of her down right sexy. Or the way her eyes lit up every time she talked about her training with Anko-sensei.  
He loved those small things and if he had known how good it was to be around Ino a few years ago he would've never wasted his time on Sakura-chan. Not that it was possible to turn the time back. You had to focus on the now and what was to come.  
And that was his talk with Inos parents. With that his brain focused again on how to unite the Yamanakas again and make Ino happy. Sleep could wait a few hours more and that way he could enjoy laying in one bed with Ino even more.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys. Here is the next part. Like I said there was a little time skip. This chapter I tried to find something to bring Ino to accept her feelings.  
In the next chapter I will focus on Naruto, how he deals with the events and how tries to fix Inos relationship with her parents.

Have fun reading and please review.

/

Ino was lost in her thoughts as she wandered through the streets. Those last few week had been just too eventful for her taste. Of course she liked a few of the things that had happened. Like when someone had henged into Ami in just her underwear and then ran through the whole village so everyone could see it, though that had just been one of many funny things that happened to the poor girl. Not that Ami didn´t deserve it, but still Ino felt a little bit of pity for her.  
Another event had been when Anko-sensei and Shizune-Sensei had told her, that their training was now over and that her and Naruto would become a team, which from now on would be led by Anko. Both she and her roommate had been beyond happy about being real ninja of Konoha again.  
And then the whole mess with Sasuke had happened. First he forced Naruto to fight him, leading to Kakashi stopping the fight. And then a few days later the Uchiha had left the village for Orochimaru, not caring that he broke Sakuras heart in the process. Even worse, when Shikamarus team tried to bring him back they had all been hurt. Only the help of the sand village had been responsible that no one had died that day, but that didn´t mean that no one had been close to dying. Ino had seen Naruto when Kakashi had brought him to the village, just like she had seen the others. All of that just for Sasuke.  
The shadow of those events had since then been darkening her life, that had just gotten better.  
Because of his injuries Naruto had been forced to stay at the hospital. Meaning that Ino had to sleep alone, just as she had gotten used to lie next to him. Also she couldn´t go on missions as long as he was hurt and worst of all she wasn´t even allowed to visit him at the hospital, till today because he hadn´t been awake. All of that had led to her not getting enough sleep, being nervous and most of the time distracted from what she did.  
On the bright side, Anko-sensei had given her more than one chance to take out all her frustration about this mess on her sensei and the blond girl had repaired her friendship with Sakura by giving the comfort the pink haired girl so dearly needed.  
Anyway all in all the recent events had been just a bit too troublesome for Ino. In the end she had started to occupie herself with training, Sakura and Shikamaru, even D-rank missions. Everything to keep her from thinking too much. Because as soon as Ino had the time to think, her thoughts went to Naruto and how much she missed him, worried about him, wanted to make him better.  
Those feelings were more than just friendship and Ino still refused to accept that she had them. She knew it wasn´t bad to love someone and that someone could not decided who he or she loved, a fact of that Anko-sensei had reminded her at every chance she got by the way, but Ino couldn´t just love Naruto. The thought alone was hilarious. Yes they were friends and very very close, but to say she loved him was just not right. He was Naruto Uzumaki and she was Ino Yamanaka. Everyone had to see how impossible it was that the flower girl and the jinchuuriki would end up together. It just couldn´t be.

Sure they had a lot in common and they got along great. Not to mention that they had proven to be good for each other since Ino had left her parents. Also they trusted each other and Ino felt save and free around Naruto, but that didn´t mean that she loved him. Everyone had to see that right?

Before she could ponder on that thought anymore she realised that her feed had brought her to the hospital. Maybe she should visit Shizune-Sensei just to see if she could help the older woman? It would keep her busy and while she was at it she could see how her friends were. Nothing wrong with that, was it? She didn´t just do it to see how Naruto was, but for all of her friends, so it had to be okay.  
That in mind she got inside and searched for Shizune-Sensei. The hospital staff was used to her by now. Afterall she had spent half of her training here, to learn and to help.  
The office she was searching for was on the third floor, right were all of her friends rooms were, except for Naruto who had to be placed on another floor.  
Shizune-Sensei wanted to be close to all of them in case of any complications arose but there hadn´t been enough rooms. Or at least that was what Anko-sensei had told the blond girl.  
Ino was just about to knock when the door opened and Shizune came into the hall.

„Oh hey Ino. I didn´t expect you here." the older woman smiled at her. „Here to visit your friends?"

Despite her first intention to help Shizune, Ino just nodded. She wouldn´t have been much of a help anyway in her current state.

„I well...I just..."

Her eyes were glued to the floor. She couldn´t even admit that she was here for Naruto. Yes she cared about Chouji, hell even about Kiba and that jackass Neji, but she was here because of her blond roommate, friend or whatever he exactly was. Shizune-Sensei apparently knew this and just smiled.

„You know, you are lucky. Naruto woke up today and I was just about to see him. Wanna come along? Im sure he is already starting a fight with one of the nurses."

Inos head shot up to face her sensei and she nodded in shock. Following the black haired medic through the hospital Inos mind was racing again. What would she say to Naruto once she saw him? How would he react to all that happened and most importantly to him nearly dying?  
And if he reacted badly what would she do? Before Ino could find at least one answer she heard two people screaming at each other. She suspected it were Naruto and some nurse.

„LISTEN LADY! I DONT CARE WHAT YOU SAY! I HAVE TO GO TRAIN, SO I CAN BRING BACK SASUKE-TEME FOR A FRIEND!"

„AND I SAID YOU WONT GET UP TILL YOUR CHECK UP IS OVER! NOR WILL YOU LEAVE THIS HOSPITAL BEFORE YOUR MENTAL EVALUATION! YOUR MISSION FAILED AND YOU NEARLY DIED! NOW PLEASE FOLLOW THE RULES UZUMAKI-SAN!

„WHY DONT YOU LISTEN! I AM OK! I JUST HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

„THE AWNSER IS NO! NOW LIE DOWN AND LET ME FINISH THE CHECK UP PLEASE!

Looking at Shizune-Sensei the woman just shrugged her shoulders and said:

„He is always like this. Naruto hates hospitals for some reason and he wont listen to anybody."

„But then how?"

„Normaly we tie him to his bed. If we want to give him a shot we even have to take more drastic measures to calm him. It´s good you´re here. Maybe he wont fight as much if you can keep him in check."

„But I don´t... I mean he..."

„He listens to you. Hopefully he will also listen now."

„ NO! I SURE AS HELL WONT SIT IN A WHEELCHAIR LADY! YOU HAVE ALL GONE CRAZY! I AM FINE, I TELL YOU!"

„ YOU ARE NOT! NOW STOP MAKING SUCH A MESS! THIS IS A HOSPITAL AND WE EXPECT YOU TO BEHAVE! DONT MAKE ME GET HOKAGE-SAMA!"

As Shizune and Ino reached the door from were the screaming came, the teacher turned to her pupil and laid a hand on her shoulder. Then she opened the door and pushed the small blond girl inside the room. What she saw was a very comical sight. Naruto was help down by two nurses and fought to the bone while a third one tried to give him a shot. In front of the bed stood a wheelchair. The nurses had to give it their all to make sure the blond boy didn´t move to much, when he caught sight of Ino. Just like that he stopped his struggling, much to the surprise of the nurses who now also looked in the direction of the door.

„Ino-chan? What are you doing here?" asked a confused Naruto.

Before anything else could happen, Ino had passed the room and thrown herself onto Naruto and was hugging him like it was the only thing she was born to. Tear streamed down her face as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. She felt his arms go around her to return the hug, while she let go all of the pent up emotion of the last days.  
No one in the room said something and Shizune gestured the nurses to leave the room for a few minutes. Smiling all three of the did so and left the two teens to each other.

As soon as they were alone, there tears Naruto had held back also started to fall. Sasukes stunt had hurt him just as bad as it had hurt Sakura. Now that Ino was beside him, he finally had the chance to let go of his feelings. With her he didnt need to be strong and so both of them cried for a few minutes. One because she was happy to see him again and that she was finally there for him, while the other cried because he needed comfort to cope with what his kind of brother had done.

Half an hour later Shizune came back alone. Both blondes were still in each others arms, but the tears had stopped. Noticing her Sensei enter Ino left Narutos embrace and stood beside his bed.

„Now Naruto. It´s goood to see you awake again. Ready for your check up and the shot?" Shizune-Sensei asked him with a smile. The blonde boy paled visibly and tried to move, but Inos hand stopped him and he calmed somewhat.

„Do I really have to get it? I mean look I am fine."

„Its just to make sure. You know that. Just as good as you know how ninja have to go through a mental evaluation after a failed mission. So please stop your resistance. The sooner we finish the sooner you can go home."

„Do I have to go to that evalu-whatever today? I really want to go and have a bowl of ramen."

„Fine. After the check up Ino can take you out of the hospital, as long as you are really ok. Anyway you will listen to what she says. I will set another date for the mental evaluation and tell you when it is. Also you wont train till after your mental health is confirmed, you understand?"

There was no arguing with Shizune when she was in her medic mode. Naruto knew that in the end this was better than anything else and his arguing would just make it worse. Also this way he could leave this damned hospital with Ino and get some ramen.  
The blond girl could practically see his thought process, just as well as she could see how drained he really was right now.

„Ok."

With that Ino was sent outside to wait for Shizune to check Narutos health. She decided that she could use the time to go to the bathroom and make sure that she looked like a normal person agian. The crying couldn´t have been good for her makeup. It didn´t take long before she stood outside Narutos room again.  
A few minutes later the boy came out, dressed in his normal clothes save for any jacked and sitting in the wheelchair, rubbing his arm. He blushed as he noticed her watching him.  
Ino smiled at him. That was just like Naruto. Behind the boy was Shizune-Sensei. She nodded to Ino, telling her how Naruto shouldn´t walk much and the girl took the wheelchair from her. Naruto and her got on their way to leave the hospital.

„Do you want to visit the others?" she asked him.

He looked into his lap and said nothing for a moment. The he shook his head. The girl understood and continued talk.

„I haven´t visited them till now. I couldn´t."

„Do you want to?"

„Yes now I want to, but I can´t leave you alone now can I?" she joked lighthearted.

„Sorry, I can´t face them. Maybe in a few days. Why don´t you make a Shadow clone to visit them?"

Ino gasped. Now that she hadn´t to worry about Naruto she wanted to see the other, while at the same time she didn´t want to leave him. A shadow clone was just the thing she needed to do both things she wanted to do. Smiling she leaned down and kissed the boy on his cheek.

„You know, sometimes you are a real genius."

She made a shadow clone while Naruto blushed deep red. Then Ino brought him into the streets and they made their way to his favorite restaurant. As soon as it came in sight Naruto became restless and his stomach growled. Ino had to giggle at that. They arrived and she helped him into one of the chairs inside the ramen stand. Teuchi ans Ayame were with them as soon as Ino had set down. Both were happy to see their favorite customer again and Ayame was also happy how the two teens seemed to be way closer than they had been when they had visited the last time.

„Ah Naruto. You are better I see. The usual?" Teuchi asked and said boy nodded. „Ok. And what can I get you miss Yamanaka?"

„One bowl of miso ramen please."

With that Teuchi left for the kitchen while his daughter stayed with the blond teens. She was smart enough to not talk about the failed mission. Since it had involved the Uchiha the whole village knew about it. Ayame for her part only cared about Naruto. The boy was in a way her little brother. When he had been smaller she often had to make sure Naruto didn´t pull one of hs pranks. The third had always paid her for the babysitting and Naruto had often asked the man if he could spent the day with her.  
The ramen girl also saw how concerned the other girl beside him was. Every so often she would glance at the unusually silent boy. And when she thought that neither Ayame or anybody else was watching, Ino would take his hand in her own.  
luckily Ayame had a sharp eye and what she saw made her smile. What a cute couple, even if they clearly hadn't talked about their feelings yet and acted only on instinct.

„So you two. I heard you will be going on missions together." she began. Ino and Naruto perked up and looked at her.

„Yeah. After Naruto is cleared again. He still has to get a few tests." Ino told the other girl.

„We will be doing missions in no time again. Believe it."

„So you are feeling better again Naruto? No broken ribs or anything? I heard you were injured pretty bad."

„Well, you know me. I heal fast. Also I have Ino-chan to make sure I don´t accidentally hurt myself." He said scratching his head a little embarrassed.

„Well Im sure she will look out for you. Afterall it takes a smart and strong girl to keep you in check, doesnt it?

„I suppose. Anyway there is no one smarter than her and she is very strong. I am lucky to have a pretty girl watch over me. She is way better than one of the nasty nurses."

Before he realised what he said the words had left his mouth. Both teens blushed and looked in different directions. Ayame only smiled.

„My my, you must really like her a lot, right?"

He never answered that question because of Teuchi who brought the ramen bowls. The blond teens began to eat in silence like the always did and before any more embarrassing things could happen Ino made Naruto pay and brought him to their apartment. She forced him to take a shower and prepared the bed for both of them. Shizune wanted Naruto to rest and Ino also needed to make up for the sleep she had lost in the days without him.

Soon both of them were under the sheets and the blond girl surprised Naruto when she etched as close to him as she could and rested her head on his shoulder. Just as they were both falling asleep she whispered into his ear:

„I missed you whiskers. You really scared me. Don´t you ever do that again."

She kissed his cheek and before anything else could happen, Ino fall asleep and entered a long and happy dream. In her sleep she held onto the blond boy and didn´t let go.  
Naruto did the same, happy that she cared about him and was still here. It didn´t take long till he followed Ino into dreamland.

The next morning Ino was the first one to be awake. She had shifted from her previous position and was no on top of Naruto. Not that she cared anymore. Naruto was with her again and the feeling of loneliness she had had the last few days was gone. What did it matter if she had feelings for her blond boy? She had denied it far too long already.  
Now she didn´t care about what people would say. He made her happy in such a strange way that she couldn´t describe it.  
The moment she had seen him in this hospital room and what she had felt then had convinced her. She loved Naruto.  
And now Ino watched said boys sleeping form under her. He must have been dreaming something good, if the small smile on his lips was an indicator.  
Following her instinct she leaned down and kissed him. Just a light peck on the lips to know how they felt. When she opened her eyes again, Ino was met with Narutos blue orbs wide open in surprise.  
Seeing him awake she did something that was very unlike her. She fainted.


End file.
